


Soccer and Boys

by Babygirl_Francesca



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Gaslighting, Highschool AU, M/M, Slow Burn, Soccer, Student Peter Parker, Sweet, Teacher Tony Stark
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-12
Updated: 2019-01-19
Packaged: 2019-05-21 12:11:08
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 19
Words: 87,860
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14915132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Babygirl_Francesca/pseuds/Babygirl_Francesca
Summary: Peter Parker's a student at a prestigious all-boys school, trying to balance his asshole boyfriend, soccer, and his cute new math teacher.





	1. Best and Brightest

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! Thanks for clicking on my story. I have a lot planned for this story if it gets the kind of reception I'm hoping for. :)  
> NOTES:  
> -Peter is underage in this story. He is 16 when he enters into a relationship with Tony, however, he is 17 when they have sex.  
> -I don't know anything about soccer, that being said, soccer is a pivotal point in this story. I apologize for any inaccuracies. Additionally, sorry if there is a lot of soccer jargon in this chapter.  
> -Erik Killmonger is kind of an asshole in this fic. I really thought he wasn't that bad in the movie, but I was trying to think of an attractive villain who could date Peter.  
> -there are some direct MCU quotes peppered in, they're probably pretty easy to pick out.

_"Doesn't matter what the press says. Doesn't matter what the politicians or the mobs say. Doesn't matter if the whole country decides that something wrong is something right. This nation was founded on one principle above all else: The requirement that we stand up for what we believe, no matter the odds or the consequences. When the mob and the press and the whole world tell you to move, your job is to plant yourself like a tree beside the river of truth, and tell the whole world - 'No, YOU move.'"_

Peter gave Steve a side-eye, a half grin on his face, forcing himself not to chuckle at the mans words, leave it to Steve to start the new year off with some ridiculous rant about the world. This was only the tail end too, Peter had been hearing about it ever since he and Steve had arrived at the front gates of the academy together about twenty minutes ago.

Quill slapped Steve on the back. "Alright man, we get that you read some Thoreau over summer break, so why don't you shut the fuck up now?"

Things were tense for one long moment before Drax slapped Steve on the back as well and the two of them started laughing, Steve joined in after a long moment. "Alright, alright, I'll cut the crap. I'm surprised that you even know who Thoreau is though Quill." Steve joked right back, falling into the average routine that the two had of busting each other.

It was early in the morning, about nine, only half the soccer team had arrived back at the academy. Quill, well  _Peter Quill,_ was the team captain, had been since last year and said that anyone who didn't show up for an eleven o'clock practice, the day before school started, would have to retry-out. It was all talk of course, Peter knew that, but he'd wanted to get to school early and get all of his things moved in, find his new room, his room mate, etc.

The only ones who were even at school this early, the day before opening ceremony, where some teachers, Quill, Drax, Steve, and himself. The others would filter in. Peter assumed next would be Loki and Thor, if it was up to Loki they would be the first ones to arrive and if it was up to Thor they would be the last ones, so the two balanced themselves out and arrived just a little early. T'Challa and Erik would probably come in next, at each others throats from having to be in their moms car together for three hours. Bucky would show up within minutes of Sam which would piss Sam off, but somehow those two seemed to have a perfect mental sync for pissing each other off. Finally, probably an hour and a half late, Scott would roll in with some made up story and excuse for why he was late.

"Fuck your Thoreau." Was Quill's only response, eloquent and pop-culture savvy in its own right.

"Language man." Steve chided and then let it go, sitting down in one of the arm chairs in the main room. Cantu Academy for Boys, founded with a generous donation from an Italian mob lord in the 1910s, had four dorm sections. One for the eighth graders, one for the ninth graders, one for the tenth graders, and one for both the eleventh and twelfth graders. They had small classes, and the upperclassman wing was the largest so almost the entire soccer team, except for Loki, was housed in the same dorm, but Loki was just a floor below them and broke lots of rules to be seemingly in the upperclassman dorm at all times.

Peter took a spot on the couch, next to Quill who was now scribbling something on a napkin, Drax on the other side was seemingly trying to read the book that had been assigned by Mr. Barton for the summer, knowing Drax he would get it read but have very little understanding of anything that happened in it.

Peter's pocket buzzed and he pulled his phone out, swiping the screen of him and Erik together on his birthday open and reading the message.

**Received: Erik :) 9:24 am.**

> can you tell quill we're gonna be late? maybe like an hour.

**Sent: Peter 9:25 am.**

> why? :(

**Received: Erik :) 9:27 am.**

> TC is being a douche nozzle.

"Hey Quill? Erik just said he and TC are getting here late." Peter told him, looking up from his phone for only a minute. Quill frowned at the napkin he was drawing on, waved a hand in dismissal to Peter and then erased something, tearing the napkin.

**Sent: Peter 9:30 am.**

> sure it's not you that's being a douche nozzle?

**Received: Erik :) 9:31 am.**

> keepin me straight petey. see u soon.

"What are you drawing Quill? Picture of your girlfriend?" Steve asked, crossing one leg over the other and turning his phone over in his lap, obviously bored of just sitting and staring at it.

"Naw I'm trying to get our positions ready for this year." Quill said, making one final mark and then setting down his pencil, seeming to be very happy with the finished result.

"I thought we already positions?" Peter piped up. They had the same team last year, so Peter wondered what the end goal of changing everything up would be. Quill seemed to be a pretty good captain though, they'd been four games away from winning at state, which was better than Cantu had done in a long time. Half of the boys on the team were in one soccer scholarships so that the school could get a better team. It was the only sport offered other than golf, which they were five time state champs at.

"Yeah, but I don't know. Something felt  _off_ last year. We just weren't clicking. Which makes sense, I mean we got Bucky, TC, Loki, and Pete last year. I don't think we were really using everyone correctly. Listen to this: Loki as goalie-" Peter was immediately cut off.

"My brother trying to  _deflect_ balls from himself? Unheard of." Thor announced himself, coming into the room with a flourish, Loki following with a long sigh from behind.

"You know, you don't  _always_ have to embarrass me." Loki pointed out and dropped his bag on the floor, sitting lavishly in the armchair opposite of Steve. The room rosters hadn't been released yet and they couldn't get their keys until three this afternoon, so everyone was just generally dropping their things off.

"No, no, listen. I mean Loki's got like mad wing span and he's super fast. He subbed for Scott those few times last year and seemed  _really_ good. We'll just try it out. Alright, next we've got Erik and Scott for our central midfielders-" Peter was again cut off.

"You want  _Erik_ as a center? Dude he'll kill you." Peter interjected. His boyfriend  _always_ played midfield. He was easily the most offensive player the team had, wanted to be in on the action. He wasn't great at scoring goals, but he could get the ball to a striker no problem.

"Yeah, that's the problem, his temper. He's on real thin ice with the coach this year after his red card last year. Centers gotta be tall and big, I think Erik'll do great. Okay, if we're done with the interruptions: Peter you're our wing back this year, no change there." Peter was alright with this, it was the position that demanded the most running and if there was one thing Peter was good at it was running-well and scoring goals, but mostly running. He'd been playing wing back since he was a kid. "Sam's gonna be right wing back. Thor you've got midfield defender once again, so I don't want any more of this sibling rivalry shit from you two. If I see one more accidental leg sweep then  _both_ of you are out." Quill had a dead serious look in his eye and both of the brothers sobered, nodding at the warning.

"Bucky and Steve, central midfielders. I don't know about this one Steve. I mean, I know you guys can work well together but you think Buck is up for this one?" Quill was referring to what had been Bucky's potentially career ending injury last year. He'd been playing center and gotten his arm basically crushed under someone on the opposing team. It had been rebuilt, but no one other than probably Steve and Sam had seen Bucky over the summer.

"I think he'll be good. I mean he sucks at tennis now and he can barely swim, but he's got this. I'll worry about him." Steve assured. they'd been dating since as long as Peter had known them, honestly had thought that someone was going to die the day that Bucky got hurt, but he was still one of their best players.

"Alright, he's got this then. As always T'Challa is our attacking midfielder, Drax will take wide midfield and I'll take forward. Everything sound up to code guys?"

"Sounds great Peter, so we're starting practice at eleven?" Thor asked, the only one of the group that didn't call Peter 'Quill.' He hadn't always gone by that, but the team preferred calling someone 'Quill' to calling them 'Parker.'

"I don't know, TC and Erik are gonna be late. Scott probably won't get here till next month. I hate to call you guys here for no reason but... Yeah we night cancel practice tonight."

"No worries, I think we've all got some stuff we can get done." Steve said, giving Quill a reassuring smile. Quill was definitely the captain, but Steve was like their reassuring grandpa who always thought you were doing good.

"I'm gonna go for a jog, anyone wanna join me?" Peter asked, standing up in his sweats and  _Cantu Soccer_ tee shirt.

There was a chorus from around the room of everyone simultaneously responding: "Fuck no," "Hell no," "No thank you," "Maybe next time," and "try-hard."

"The answer is a cordial no, but you're probably going to be in the best shape for all the laps we're running tomorrow." Quill promised and Peter gave him a nod and a grin before making his way outside.

The air was crisp in the fall, and it stayed crisp until spring, while winter was almost completely missed. It was a good temperature for running though and Peter started up a brisk pace to get to the pitch that was ringed with quarter mile laps.

Peter loved his team, but sometimes only in small doses. They could all be a little much and it was hard to get them all serious and focusing on one task other than soccer. Drax, Thor, Quill, Loki, and Bucky were all in on soccer scholarships, didn't mean that they weren't smart, just meant they were great at soccer. TC, Erik, Steve, Sam, and Scott all had absolutely loaded families, which left Peter as the odd one out.

He was in on an academic scholarship, had just gotten in last year after being noticed for his test scores. Peter really,  _really_ wanted to pursue soccer though, and it had been hard last year to balance school and soccer. He'd tried to get the Headmistress to change his scholarship from academic to athletic, but she's told Peter that his mind, more than his body, was an asset to the school.

On the field Peter began his laps. He'd been running at least a mile a week, but he was worried that his time had gotten worse since last year when he'd ran a five fifty. He left his phone on the bench.

Two laps in and Peter could tell that he wasn't in great shape. He had a little bit of a stitch in his side that he was going to blame on his greasy breakfast and he was slightly out of breath, which he would blame on the fact that Cantu Ac. was in a higher altitude than his pitch at home. They were all just excuses though, Peter hadn't trained enough over the summer.

On his way back around for his third lap he noticed two people sitting on the bench. One he easily recognized as his couch and the other he didn't recognize at all. Peter slowed to a jog and finally a complete stop when he got to both of them, looking between his coach and the stranger with a raised eyebrow.

"Hey coach." Peter greeted, wondering why he was being watched. He supposed they could have just been sitting on the bench for no reason, but he was worried it was about him. Peter was always worried that coach was going to boot him, think that he wasn't as good as everyone else. A small part of Peter was actually glad that coach saw him running without the team, showed his dedication.

"Hey Peter. How was your summer?" Coach Phil Coulson asked, wearing a smart pair of shades and a charcoal tweed suit. Coulson always wore either a track suit or a regular suit. And the tracksuit was basically reserved for game days.

The other man was strikingly handsome. He was wearing shades as well, but they were more expensive, aviators. His suit was striped and smart, better fitting than Coulsons. His facial hair was perfectly shaved and Peter had to remind himself that he wasn't wearing sunglasses, and he should probably stop studying the mans face.

"Uh, it was pretty good. Tried to get some practicing in. You know Quill redid the positions?" Peter asked, putting his hand in his pockets and trying to look casual while a bit of sweat dripped down from his hair line. Luckily he didn't sweat a lot, Drax would be positively sloshing after a bit of a run.

"Yeah, he and I talked about it this morning. You think he made the right calls?" Peter had absolutely no idea why Coulson would be asking him this. He was junior, had only been on the team for a year, there was no reason why Coulson would want his opinion.

"Of course, sounds really good! I'm a little worried about Erik as a back center, but other than that, and I can try and deal with him too." Peter answered truthfully. There was nothing wrong with Quill's arranging, and if he thought that he could handle Erik, then Peter would believe him.

"Pete," Coulson tweaked his lips to the side and took his sunglasses off. "You know, Erik isn't your problem to deal with Peter. You're dating him, you're not his mom, gotta think about yourself sometimes."

Peter was a little taken aback by the words. He figured that Phil obviously knew what was going on in his team, but he didn't think that Coulson had payed any special attention to him. Erik of course, he was a great player, and after the red card that got called on him last year, Pete could tell that Coulson was watching him more than usual.

"Oh it's no problem sir. I know, Erik just has a lot of problems and I try to help him out the most I can." Peter had no idea why he was saying this to Coulson. He'd told Scott how he felt since he was the closest thing Peter had to a best friend, but Pete didn't really open up around others. Even aunt May thought that Erik was just a complete gentleman. He was, most of the time, it's just sometimes it's like a switch was flipped and he was a moody asshole.

"Alright, anyway Pete, this is Mr. Stark, new math teacher." Coulson introduced and the man to Coulson's side held out a hand for Peter to shake.

The hand was soft, but not gross soft, slightly better than the average hand. It was bit too, enveloping Peter's in it. He half expected it to be perfectly clean and dainty but Peter could see grease under his nails and callouses on the pads of his fingers. After taking his hand in, Peter immediately withdrew his, realizing that he'd been holding it for a little too long. "Uh, nice to meet you Mr. Stark." Peter stammered out.

"You too kid, what math class are you taking this year?" Stark asked, pushing his sunglasses back on his head and perfectly mussing his hair into a black spikes. He had small lines around the corners of his eyes, but Peter figured he wasn't any older than 35.

"I, uh, Calc III and Linear Algebra." He said. Peter was allowed to drop an art credit so that he could take two math courses this year. These were the highest level ones he could take at the school and the administration was trying to figure out what he wougd do next year: take online college courses, or bring in a private tutor.

"I'll see you tomorrow then, twice. You smart Peter?" Mr. Stark asked and it took Peter aback a little bit. Both these men were just assaulting him with things he didn't expect.  _Am I smart?_ He thought to himself.

"I think so, sir." He said, adding a small smile at the end to show that it was in good humor. Peter didn't really like to brag about himself, kind of another reason he and Erik were such polar opposites.

"Pete here's in on an academic scholarship. Best and brightest at Cantu." Coulson interjected, flashing Peter a quick and knowing grin.

"Well then I'm expecting a lot from you Pete. Only six kids in linear algebra, it's not gonna be easy." He warned and Peter was suddenly feeling a little uncomfortable under the direct scrutiny of both Coulson and Mr. Stark.

"I uh, well, you know, I'll try my best sir. I should get back to the dorms. See you tomorrow for practice coach. And um, in class Mr. Stark." He finally forced out, his phrasing peppered with stammering.

"Keep those boys in check Pete. See ya tomorrow." Coulson bid him farewell, Mr. Stark just focused his gaze on him until Peter uncomfortably, and awkwardly turned around to jog back to the dorms.

* * *

**Received: Erik :) 2:53 pm.**

> TC and I are pulling in. ya know who i'm rooming with yet?

**Sent: Peter 2:54 pm.**

> ya barton just posted the list. ur with drax. i'm w/ TC.

**Received: Erik :) 2:56 pm.**

> omg rip bby. so sorry for you.

**Sent: Peter 2:57 pm.**

> more worried abt u, heard drax sweats more in his sleep haha

There wasn't a reply after that, just Peter sitting on the bed on the left side of his dorm room. They had a good room since it was on a corner and had two windows. Peter took the bed with a window and could see the pitch from up there.

Everything was neatly and tidily put in its spots. He wasn't one for clutter, and he doubted TC was either.

Peter had known T'Challa, TC, before he knew Erik since they were in the same grade. It was only when Peter got into soccer that he met the brother and they hit it off. He and Erik had been dating for about six months now.

**Received: Lokes 3:01 pm.**

> Peter, are you taking Linear Algebra this year?

**Sent: Peter 3:01 pm.**

> ya, why?

**Received: Lokes 3:03 pm.**

> Did we get a new teacher?

**Sent: Peter 3:03 pm.**

> yes, a guy named mr. Stark. you wanna do study sessions like we did last year? u totally saved my ass

**Received: Lokes 3:05 pm.**

> Your savior is here. aka: yes.

Loki stopped responding, which was typical for him. He rarely texted anyone, and when he did it was just to gain information.

Ten minutes later the door was politely knocked on and Peter yelled for them to come in. TC had just arrived, carrying a duffel bag over his shoulder, a suitcase and Erik behind him.

"Hey T'Challa!" Peter greeted, standing off of the bed to say hello. They were pretty good friends, Peter thought that rooming this year would be much easier than last year where he'd been roomed with some uptight guy named Everett. T'Challa was cool.

"Hey Pete, how was your summer man?" He asked, setting his bags down. Erik entered the room fully, sitting on Peter's bed next to where he was standing.

"It was great, sorry we missed each other the whole time. Erik said you were in Tanzania?" He questioned, sitting down on the bed next to Erik who immediately slung a loose arm around Peter's shoulders.

"Oh yeah, big time medical mission trip. Anyway I'm gonna go find Quill, talk to him a bit about our plays this year. Catch ya later Pete." T'Challa pointedly ignored his brother who was sitting right in front of him. The two  _hated_ each other, and as far as Peter could tell, it was mostly Erik's fault. Erik never liked that TC was a better soccer player, in fact he was  _the best_ soccer player on their team. He just wasn't the captain because he didn't want to be.

"Like I said, I'm so sorry for you." Erik said with a sigh, laying back on Peter's bed and stretching himself out. "But I know he's nicer to you than he is to me."

Peter lay down next to him, turning on his side to lean his forehead against Erik's rib cage. "He's my friend Erik, I'll be fine." Peter reassured.

Erik just drummed his fingers along Peter's spine and stared up at the ceiling in though. "You read that book for Barton's class?"

"Of course." He said and then thought for a moment, sitting up and looking down at Erik. "No, Erik,  _you didn't._ " He said, exasperated.

"Oh come on Petey, it's not that big of a deal. Just fill me in on the major plot points so I can write a dumb one page summary. You're the smart kid in the senior English class, help a brother out." He said, huge smile on his face that made his eyes crinkle up. Erik's hair was tied at the top of his head and Peter thought he looked absolutely adorable, even when he was coercing him into doing his homework.

"I'll just write it." Peter sighed and lay back down, his ear against Erik's chest now.

"And that's why you're the best Petey."

* * *

School always started with a lackluster breakfast lasting from 6:30 to 7:50. They offered a wide array of food since some kid's parents were pouring thousands of dollars into the school, but Peter was always in at 6:30 sharp, eating a bowl of plain cereal.

This morning he had his laptop out in front of him, quickly typing out the last few words to a summary of  _The Things They Carried,_ and book about the Vietnam War, which had actually been quite good, but apparently the soccer players at this school were too good for books.

His summary was brief and concise, Peter was pretty good at mimicking Erik's blunt writing style. He printed it out in the library, stuck it in his bookbag, and made his way back to his dorm. By the time he'd finished his cereal and done all of that it was 7 and still basically no one was up yet.

In the dorm again, TC was just starting to get up and Peter changed out of the ratty jeans and shirt he'd worn to breakfast and into the black slacks and red pullover he had to wear for class. The uniform wasn't super strict, but black slacks were a must and Peter had to be wearing either a button down, the school sweater, the blazer, or the sweater- _vest._ It was kind of nippy outside today so he opted for the warmest option.

**Received: Cap Quill 7:10 AM**

[recipients: Lokes, Thor, Erik :), TC, Bucky, Sam, Scotty, Drax, Sam W.]

 

> practice at six guys. dress warm. we're doing laps. scrimmage on sat

Peter had been expecting that message so he pocketed his phone and took a seat on his bed, messing around on his phone until it was really time to go. Sometimes Peter got up early just so he could go for a run, but sometimes it was nice to just chill out on his phone for forty minutes.

The bell rang as Peter was making his way to his first class, Linear Algebra with Mr. Stark.

There were six other kids in the class: Loki, Steve, and three others that he didn't know. They looked like they were probably seniors, but Peter really only knew the soccer team. So Peter took a seat inbetween Loki and Steve, who had left an awkward desk between them.

"Morning Pete!" Steve greeted, always happy in the mornings.

"Hey Steve, didn't know you were taking this class." Peter commented. Steve had always been pretty smart, but not like noticeably smarter than the rest of the team.

"My parents say it will look good on college apps. I'm not sure though, I might need a lot of tutoring from you two." He said to both him and Loki. As always, Loki looked flippant to the request, Peter just smiled at him.

The bell rang again and Mr. Stark finally came in from the office that was attached to this math room. There were only three math teachers in the entire building, Mr. Stark had the best room, by far.

Once again, he was dressed to the nines. Obviously designer shoes, and this time a pair of perfectly fitting jeans and a dark blue button up. Peter had to once again, force himself to stop looking at Mr. Stark. Sure, Pete thought that a lot of people were attractive, but Tony kind of knocked it out of the park. He was smart, well dressed, and apparently not afraid to get his hands dirty, Peter thought this was going to be a good class.

"Morning guys. I'm Mr. Stark, your new teacher for the year. Apparently the last teacher wasn't actually that great at differential equations, but I think my degree from MIT had learned me a few things." He joked, all eyes were on him and suddenly Mr. Stark looked just the slightest bit uncomfortable. He was suave, confident... But not incredibly confident in front of a bunch of high school kids, from what Peter could surmise, maybe it was his first teaching kid. "Anyway, uh, let me call roll real quick. Alright, Nick?" There was hear from a young black kid that Peter absolutely didn't recognize. "Johnny?" And another answer from a kid who had his uniform absolutely mucked up and looked like he'd just dragged himself out of bed. "Pietro?" A kid that Peter was pretty sure he'd seen around before answered, but Peter was one of the most most unobservant people that he knew. "Steve?" And of course Steve answered with and overly pompous ' _present._ ' "Loki?" Loki didn't even bother saying anything, just raised his hand a bit off the desk. "And Peter you're here." Tony nodded at Peter and he quickly looked away.

Stark looked threw some papers on the desk in front of him before snagging the one he'd been looking for. "Ah, first thing's first, announcements. As you know, I'm your homeroom or adviser or whatever for the year. I'm supposed to tell you to come to me if you have any issues or need any help with you homework, but I would strongly suggest seeking out Banner or Barton as they're a little more cuddly. Ah, there's an assembly at five in the main hall, soccer kids are excused early for practice. And I think that's it. Any questions?" The silence in the room was deafening and Stark once again shuffled papers around on his desk, obviously trying to collect himself.

"Okay, so linear algebra," Stark began, and from there he didn't seem to have any problem projecting confidence across the class room.

* * *

"Peeeeeeeeeeter." Scott sing-songed as he caught up to him on the track. They were running eight laps, two miles and were over halfway done. Him, Scott, and Sam were leading the group, Sam just a little bit behind them, but more to give them space than because he couldn't catch up.

"What's up Scott?" He asked, looking over at the man, basically Peter's bestfriend since he transferred to the school last year. Scott had been epically late, not even showing up to the dorms until eight that morning.

"You seem weird today Pete." He commented, not adding to that or giving Peter anymore idea of what he meant. They went around again, just two laps left.

"Weird how?" Peter asked, trying to understand. Coulson was standing on the sidelines watching them run and taking notes on his small pad that he always had with him.

"Oh you know, just your usual moody routine that you have when Erik is being a dick." Scott said and then looked away so that he wouldn't catch Peter's heated glare.

"He is  _not_ a dick. He didn't even do anything." Peter tried to explain, but not many things got past Scott.

"Oh please Pete, like Erik would ever use an MLA formatted header on his paper? You totally wrote that for him."

"I'll have you know that Mr. Barton doesn't accept papers unless they're MLA." Peter retorted, trying to fix the situation.

"It was a fucking two paragraph summary Peter, I really doubt Barton would have cared."

Peter desperately didn't want to continue the conversation, and luckily he didn't have to as they finished their last lap and Sam caught up with them, ruining Scott's gossip mood.

One by one, everyone else got off the track, Thor and Drax last since they just didn't have the stamina that everyone else did.

"Alright guys! I'm gonna call it a day but I am fully expecting to see you here tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day, not Friday, and then Saturday at six for our scrimmage against Welton, and then Saturday night for some extra 'practice'." Quill spoke, surprisingly releasing them early. Usually they were out until at least seven, but Peter figured it was barely 7:30.

It had been a weird first two days back though, and Peter was kind of eager to just go to bed.


	2. Missing Assigments

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey thanks for all the awesome comments and kudos and such!  
> NOTES:  
> -Wade is Deadpool and Logan is Wolverine btw, because this story is the most ambitious crossover event since Infinity War.  
> -erik is more of a dick this chapter!!! just to dispel any concerns, he's not like ever gonna be abusive towards peter, he's just generally a self-serving dick wad.  
> -idk if this needs a warning but there's some minors drinking and smoking cigarettes/weed throughout this story. not sure how that could trigger anyone, but just a warning.  
> ~okay sorry for so many notes, thanks for reading.~  
> (p.s: imagining all the boys in soccer uniforms is actually really funny, you should try it)

**Received: Erik :) 6:53 am.**

 

> pete can u help me study for my math test tomorrow?

It was barely seven in the morning, Peter had paused at the bench before he was going to go around for another lap on the track when he'd noticed the message from Erik. With a heavy sigh he lay back on the bench, holding his phone above him.

He didn't have the time to help Erik study, Peter had to study for his own tests, not to mention the mountain of homework he was amassing from being in calc III and Linear Algebra. He had thirty questions to do for calc tonight and an in depth analysis of a complicated slope to do for linear. It was not going to be a fun night, plus they had the scrimmage with a local public highschool on Saturday, Peter definitely did not have time for all of this.

**Sent: Peter 6:57 am.**

 

> maybe. I'm pretty busy tonight. I can throw together a quick study guide for you but i dont think i can study w/ you.

**Received: Erik :) 7:00 am.**

 

> Don't worry about it. I'll get Bucky or someone to help me.

There was something about the way the text was written that made Peter think Erik was upset. Peter rarely ever turned Erik down, and when he did the man got pretty pissed, but Peter needed to take some time to himself occasionally. This year was hitting him faster than he expected, and it was only the fourth day.

**Received: Ball Boys 7:10 am.**

 

> _starlord:_ party at scott's house on saturday night.

Peter rubbed his face, it was a little early in the morning to be hit with a party invite. Quill had learned a couple of days ago that he could create a group chat, change everyone's names in it,  _and_ title it "Ball Boys." There was a general consensus that he was abusing his texting privileges.

**Received: Ball Boys 7:11 am.**

 

> _god of mischief:_ Quill, it's seven in the morning. [7:12]
> 
> _starlord:_ and this was very pressing news! [7:12]
> 
> _captain america:_ will there be alcohol? [7:14]
> 
> _starlord:_ would it be a party if there wasn't? [7:15]
> 
> _captain america: bucks and i might sit this one out then_ [7:16]
> 
> _winter soldier:_ speak for yourself old man! [7:16]
> 
> _ant man:_ if ya'll don't shut the FUCK up there will be no party [7:18]
> 
> _starlord:_ i have something rlly important to ask tho [7:19]
> 
> _ant man:_ I'll allow it, but you're on thin ice [7:23]
> 
> _starlord:_ whats a better group name: Ball Boys or The Soccer Avengers? [7:25]
> 
> _ant man:_ blocked. [7:25]

Peter couldn't help but crack a smile at their antics. Since the chat had been formed it was basically non-stop chatter, but Peter thought they were a group of the funniest guys he had ever met, so he didn't mind all the constant talking.

* * *

The scrimmage went really well, Peter even scored a goal and got cheered by his team. They won 2-0, but it was all just friendly rivalry. They'd played the other team a couple of times and usually won, but they were all great guys. Their coach was Thor and Loki's sister, so she was kind of a bitch, but they didn't really interact with her.

"Hey guys listen up!" Coulson tried to shout above their after game banter. Everyone's spirits were high and they were pumped that they had won. It didn't even mean anything in the long run, but they were never tired of winning.

"COUCH SAYS SHUT UP!" Sam yelled and everyone immediately stopped talking and turned to listen to their coach.

"Alright, it's almost eight so I won't keep you for much longer, but I  _know_ what you all are gonna get up to tonight! Not gonna try and stop you but just... Don't be idiots. Bucky, TC, and Scott, remember you are off the team if we catch you smoking again. Quill and Thor, Dr. Strange knows a hangover when he sees one so at least have the decency to hide in your rooms next time. Alright that's it. Good game, see you guys Monday night for practice." He broke the circle, shared a crisp high five with everyone as they hit the showers, and then made his way back to the main building.

Coulson was a good coach, strict in all the right areas. There had definitely been some times in the past year that Peter had been there that someone should have gotten kicked. To be fair, Thor and Quill had a one game suspension for the hangover incident that they'd tried to pass as food poisoning, but Strange was like a fucking wizard when it came to sniffing out illicit activities.

"Hey Petey! You wanna ride in the scott-mobile?" Scott asked, jogging up next to him. Scott, Thor, Loki, and Quill were the only ones on the team with cars on campus. There wasn't really much of a point unless they were driving an hour to Scott's house, and in that case it worked out pretty perfectly.

"Yeah, yeah absolutely. I'll meet you down by it in like a half an hour?" He asked and Scott gave him a thumbs up before jogging off to go take off his kit and shower.

Peter headed back to the main building to shower in one of the more private bathrooms. Every four kids had their own bathrooms, Peter shared his with TC, Bucky, and Bucky's roommate who he didn't know. The gym showers were fine, but Peter liked to unwind a little after a game, not just furiously scrub mud and sweat off of himself.

Luckily, Peter had gotten all of his homework done for Mr. Stark's class on Friday, but Erik was very noticeably pissed at him. He hadn't really spoken a word to Peter since he'd gotten his test score back yesterday and had received a  _stellar_ 72% on it, which he was quite obviously blaming on Peter.

In the shower Peter slicked his hair up with conditioner and leaned against the wall. His phone was buzzing off the hook, no doubt with texts to the group chat that had simply been renamed:  _The Avengers_ , after a brief debate between that, "Ball Boys," and "Guardians of the Balls." There was basically non-stop chatter on it, but Peter thought everything they said was funny so he didn't mute it.

Another person he thought was funny recently was Mr. Stark. The man was just kinda weird. Peter figured that he'd never taught before, which was odd since most teachers start in their twenties and go till they're dead, but Stark must have been doing something else before this. He was confident and commanded the room when talking about math, but was shy and reserved when talking about anything else. He cracked jokes easily, but shut down when a kid tried to start banter. Tony seemed to be phenomenally more open in the Linear Algebra class than he was in Calc and Peter figured it was because there were thirty kids in Calc in only the six in Lin.

Everyday so far he had arrived dressed nicely, perfectly fitted jeans and another shirt that was just a little too tight. Peter had to stop himself from zoning out in class on the mans biceps and remind himself that Erik's biceps were just as good. He felt like things with Erik were strained recently, and Mr. Stark was just a stupid pipe dream that he wanted desperately to stop thinking about. He would rather fix things with Erik than pine after the math teacher.

Finally rinsing off and drying himself Peter tied the towel securely around his waist and checked his phone.

**Received: The Avengers 8:10 pm.**

 

> _ant man:_ i'm taking peter in my car whats everone elses plan
> 
> _starlord:_ i'm taking drax [8:11]
> 
> _god of thunder:_ i don't want to, but i guess i'll take loki [8:12]
> 
> _god of mischief:_ Fuck you. [8:12]
> 
> _winter soldier:_ thor can you take steve and i? [8:13]
> 
> _god of thunder:_ yeah fs [8:13]
> 
> _god of mischief:_ someone willingly letting thor drive them? i guess you like having your fucking brain sloshed around. [8:15]
> 
> _god of thunder:_ Fuck you. [8:16]
> 
> _falcon (bird boy):_ i'll take the awkward, sexually tense seat between steve and buck [8:17]
> 
> _god of thunder:_ the Thor Cruiser is now full. see you guys at scotts [8:18]
> 
> _black panther:_ i'll ride with quill [8:18]
> 
> _killmonger:_ i'll ride with quill [8:18]
> 
> _killmonger:_ fuck! [8:18]
> 
> _starlord:_ sorry the U.S.S Quill will not accept both brothers [8:19]
> 
> _ant man:_ steve-mobile won't either. no hard feelings, just don't want blood on the leather [8:20]

Peter had checked the messages just in time it seemed and shot out a quick text of his own, the nick name flashing as  _Spider Man._ Quill had decided all the nick names and had informed Peter that his was chosen because he looked so "bendy" and was also secretly poisonous. Whatever that meant.

 

> _spider man:_ ride with scott and i erik [8:21]
> 
> _killmonger:_ as long as he never calls his car the scott-mobile again. [8:22]
> 
> _ant man:_ are you insinuating that the "U.S.S Quill" is any better? [8:23]
> 
> _killmonger:_ it's a huge step up from the "Gamora Love Wagon" [8:24]
> 
> _ant man:_ ah yes, his totally real girlfriend that none of us have ever met [8:25]
> 
> _starlord:_ stfu and go to the party you douche nozzles [8:26]

That was actually the first time that Peter had endeavored to send a message to the chat. He was always a little intimidated to speak up around them unless he was spoken to first, but it would have raised some weird questions if Erik had ridden with Quill and Drax instead of him. There were cliques within the soccer team but Erik never really seemed to fit into any of them. Neither did Scott, but he and Scott had each other, sometimes Peter couldn't say that about him and Erik.

Peter grabbed his phone charger from his room and changed into a pair of jeans with a loose fitting grey sweater. It was cashmere and Loki gave it to him for his last birthday, having rich friends sometimes had perks.

Scott was waiting in the parking lot, leaning against his car. It was a classic bug that his parents had gifted him, it was a dusty 1960s orange with a canvas hood that Scott had already put down. It was just a quick drive through the city so it would be fun to have the top down.

"Hey man, thanks for volunteering for me to drive Erik around." Scott said with a small eye roll, but there was a smile on his face and Peter could tell that he wasn't actually mad.

"Sorry, I just hate it when people snoop into our lives and I didn't want to make a scene by riding in separate cars." He explained and slid into the passenger seat next to Scott. Some Beastie Boys album was pumping softly through the speakers, the subwoofers in the back rocked the car a little with each hit of the bass.

They sat in otherwise smooth silence for a moment though, waiting for Erik to come out. Thor had driven off in his pompous Lexus, and Quill had left in his lifted truck. They were the last ones in the lot, but Scott's parents were out of town and everyone knew where he lived.

"Peter, I know I already said this on Monday, but something just seems off about you this year dude, I mean you were super hyped during the summer for this year, you and Erik seemed to have had a great time. What's going on with you?"

Peter was trying to gear himself up to respond but then Erik was jogging through the parking lot and sliding in behind them. "Sorry I took so long." He apologized and buckled in.

"All good! It's barely even nine, too early to get drunk anyway." Scott joked and pulled out, more like peeled out since he definitely didn't respect the fragile mechanics of the old car. Peter was constantly under the hood fixing things, usually with Steve's help. Peter didn't have a particular affinity for cars, but he understood how they worked, and Scott's parents had gotten mad when he'd been taking it to the mechanic like once a week so Peter offered to keep it up in working shape.

"Petey you know that's like my least favorite sweater on you right?" Erik asked from the back and when Peter looked back at him he had a grin on his face and reached his arm out to clap in on Peter's shoulder.

"I wore it to piss you off." He said cheekily, but Scott's hands were tightened on the steering wheel, obviously not appreciating what he'd said to Peter. "By the way, do you wanna go shopping with me tomorrow?"

Erik dropped his hand from Pete's shoulder. "Why?"

"It's almost Bucky's birthday, I wanna get him something." Peter wondered how Erik had forgotten, what with Steve talking about it basically twenty-four seven. Honestly, Steve was talking about Bucky all the time regardless of the occasion.

"Bucky? Man for real? You're not still smoking with him anymore are you?" Erik asked, well, more demanded that Peter answer. Obviously he didn't want to go shopping what Peter and was just going to change the subject to something they could argue about.

"What the hell Erik? I smoke one cigarette with him, one time, and suddenly I'm a chain smoker?" Peter shot back. He was usually quiet and reserved around Erik, but sometimes he just wouldn't take the mans shit. He was basically fully turned around in his seat now looking at Erik.

"Oh one time? That's your fucking lie now. Sam  _told_ me it was more than once!" Was Erik's response and Scott was visibly uncomfortable now.

"So you're going to take Sam's word over mine? Since when have you even talked to him? Last time I checked I was your only fucking friend!" He yelled, well it was barely above his normal talking voice, but it was more heated than Peter usually got. He  _hated_ fighting, but he didn't understand why Erik was constantly instigating arguments. And it honestly had been one time that Peter had smoked with Bucky and Erik had stumbled upon them. He'd been with TC too, which also pissed off Erik who was constantly worried his super straight brother was going to steal away Peter.

"Shut the fuck up Peter. I'm  _this_ close to being done with you after you fucking set me up to fail my math test."

And then Scott had enough of them arguing and he turned up the music so loud that Peter couldn't hear himself think, the only thing in his mind was "You gotta fight for your right... To partyyyyyyy." Which was much better than whatever bullshit Erik was going to say after that.

Peter shot Scott a quick smile, letting him know that what he appreciated the effort.

When they arrived at Scott's house everyone was there, but a couple cars full of students from the local public high school that they'd invited after the scrimmage. Quill had even invited his girlfriend if rumors were true.

Peter got out of the car and Erik caught up right behind him, roping an arm around Peter's shoulders.

"Oooh, I have a sunburn on the back of my neck." Peter winced and Erik immediately withdrew his arm, moving it down to wrap tightly around Peter's waist.

"Ouch baby, I rub some aloe on it for you later." Erik promised and pressed a soft kiss to the back of Peter's neck.

The inside of the house was already full of tipsy teenagers, a lot of whom Peter didn't know.

"Wanna go get me a drink Er?" Peter asked and looked up at him.

"Of course baby. Be right back." He promised and took off towards the kitchen where the alcohol was always stashed.

Peter wandered a little further into the sea of people, glad that Erik was actually trying to be nice to him right now. Peter had always thought it was like a switch with him, whether he was going to be nice or a dick. Peter took a seat on one of the couches in Scott's huge living room, just enjoying lounging around. In the morning he and the rest of the guys would stay late into the morning cleaning everything up before Scott's parents got home, and then would head back into Cantu.

"Hey! Left wide midfielder!" A guy called out, taking a seat next to Peter on the couch, Peter recognized him as a center for the other team. Another guy took a seat next to him who Peter was pretty sure was the goalie.

"Yeah, I'm Peter." He introduced himself with a smile.

"I'm Logan, this is Wade. That goal you shot today was seriously cool." Logan commented and flashed Peter a huge smile. He was a really attractive guy, tall, bulky, a little bit of stubble on his chin that actually looked good.

"You want a hit Petey?" The guy, Wade, asked, holding a joint out to Peter. He thought to comment on the nick name for a moment but Logan beat him to it.

"Don't mind Wade, he's fucking weird." Logan explained. Peter chuckled and took the blunt as Wade jokingly slapped Logan's thigh.

"I'm not weird baby boy, everyone else is. Let's go get more drinks." Wade urged and then pulled Logan up, before Peter could give them the joint back they disappeared back into the crowd.  _Oh well,_ he though,  _probably wasn't there's in the first place._

Peter took another long drag. He didn't smoke all that often, but he liked it. Occasionally Coulson would drug test them, which kept most of them from doing it in the middle of the playing year, but so early in the year Coulson wouldn't think about it. He tipped his head back on the couch and let out a puff of smoke, glad that he'd worn the sweater because the windows were wide open in an attempt to let smoke out.

"Uh oh, watch out, Peter's gonna get high and moody." He heard someone's voice say, Bucky maybe, and then the person was gone to another side of the room and Erik was returning, taking a seat on the couch next to Peter and handing him a red solo cup with blue liquid in it.

"What is it?" Peter asked, taking another, probably ridiculously long hit and sloshing the drink around.

"Gatorade and Vodka, know you hate the taste, thought this would help." Erik said and gingerly took the blunt from Peter, taking a few drags himself.

"Aw, you're so sweet, always thinkin' of me." Peter drawled and grinned over at Erik.

"Hey! Peter almost forgot our joint, mind if we take it back?" Logan suddenly reappeared behind the couch and Erik got with the program, passing it back to Logan.

"Thanks for the weed man." Peter thanked him and then he was gone as well, seemingly drawn away by Wade.

"Was gonna ask where you got that. Didn't think it was from some hot guy." Erik commented and then in one gulp he chugged the contents of his cup, Peter did the same.

"Not as hot as you." Peter remarked and Erik set his cup on the ground, pushing Peter back on the couch and propping himself up on his elbows over Peter.

"You're damn right. But I think you shared some saliva with him, so we gotta fix that." It was a cheesy sentiment, but Peter let Erik press his lips against his own, he blindly set his cup on the ground, somehow not spilling it.

"I'll share saliva with you anytime." Peter joked and deepened the kiss, which really just entailed them opening their mouths more and using more tongue. Peter was a little too high for a passionate and loving kiss at the moment.

"I forgot how fucking not hot you are when you're high." Erik said and smiled against Peter's lips before kissing back against him.

"Get a fucking room you two." Quill's voice came from where he was standing above them, just kind of drunkenly watching.

"We're in a room, you just happen to be in it." Peter slurred out and then broke out into chuckles.

"Can't argue with that logic, carry on."

But Peter and Erik couldn't really get back into making out once they were drawn out of their own little world, so Peter got up off the couch and tried to socialize.

* * *

**Received: Scotty 5:32 pm.**

 

> ok i'm at target. what do you want me to get for buck?

"Would you stop checking your phone every five minutes? I get you don't want to be helping me, but seriously, a little respect Peter." Erik said, looking up at him from where he'd been writing math equations in messy handwriting in his notebook.

"Sorry, sorry, Scott's picking up a present for Bucky at target." Peter answered and quickly shot a text back.

**Sent: Peter 5:35 pm.**

 

> idk, he likes reading right? what about a book?

"Just, would you help me out here? I'm seriously going to fail math if you don't help me." Erik drew his attention back and Peter set his phone down, following Erik's finger to where it was on a problem about the quadratic formula.

"Oh, you just have to plug the variable into the quadratic formula and then solve it out." He said and glanced down at his phone, no reply.

"Mind dumbing it down a little for me Einstein?" Erik asked with an eye roll. He was always impatient with Peter when it came to math, and Peter was never anything but patient and understanding with him.

"Oh yeah, uh let me see," Peter took the pencil from Erik and wrote down the formula on his paper. "So basically a is 32, b is 3, and c is 102. Now just solve the equation like you normally would." Peter explained and then two short vibrations came from his phone. Erik looked pissed but didn't comment.

**Received: Scotty 5:39 pm.**

 

> okay a book, what the fuck does he even read? I found something about nature by Abbey, he's pretty good? There's a book about world war two? He's into history right?

**Sent: Peter 5:40 pm.**

 

> world war two book for sure. thanks scott ur a life saver

And then there was a text from a number that Peter didn't have saved in his phone.

**Received: 678-547-8937 5:39 pm.**

 

> Hey, is this Peter?

**Sent: Peter 5:41 pm.**

 

> yeah, who is this?

Peter glanced over at Erik and saw that he had solved the problem correctly. He gave him a small kiss on the cheek. "Hey you did it babe!" He congratulated and then Erik moved onto the next problem without a word.

**Received: 678-547-8937 5:45 pm.**

 

> Sorry! It's Logan, from the party. Another guy named Peter gave me your number haha.

**Sent: Peter 5:46 pm.**

 

> Oh! awesome haha, never really thanked you for that blunt lol

**Received: Logan 5:47 pm.**

 

> no worries, i'll share a blunt with you anytime

**Sent: Peter 5:48 pm.**

 

> rad! was that wade guy your boyfriend?

"Peter, who the fuck are you texting?" Erik snapped, looking over at Peter's phone but not focusing long enough to read any of the texts.

"Oh, that guy from the party who let me have part of his joint." Peter explained and set the phone back down on the table, turning the screen off.

"Really? You're fucking texting some random dude while your boyfriend is trying to get you to fucking help him?" Erik accused and when Peter tried to defend himself he shoved him in the ribs and Peter shut up.

His phone vibrated a few more times but Peter ignored it, leaning over Erik's shoulder and watching him work out the math problems. About ten minutes passed and Erik was breezing through all of them, before Peter asked. "Look like you have it under control. I think I'm gonna go work on some of my own homework. See you tomorrow morning."

Erik dropped his pencil and shot to look over at Peter, one eyebrow raised. " _Really?_ You're fucking pushing it recently Peter. First you won't help me study for my test and now you won't help me on my homework? You probably just wanna go back to your room so you can send pictures of your twink ass to that disgusting dude."

Peter looked down at the table, trying to focus on the wood grain and not Erik's eyes boring into his skull. "I'm sorry, I'm help you. I can do my work in the morning." Peter said quietly. "I'm just going to go to the bathroom, I'll be right back babe." He promised and then grabbed his phone and got up.

Out in the hallway Peter leaned against the wall with a sigh. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and opened it up to see a new text from Logan.

**Received: Logan 5:49 pm.**

 

> naw, like I said, he's a fucking weirdo

**Sent: Peter 6:04**

 

> sorry I have to go, but boyfriend is being an asshole

Peter did actually make his way to the bathroom, glad that it was empty so he could splash some water on his face and take a breather.

**Received: Logan 6:06 pm.**

 

> sorry to hear that. dont let him push you around

**Sent: Peter 6:07 pm.**

 

> I mean, i'm kind of a push over when it comes to him so...

**Received: Logan 6:08 pm.**

 

> that sucks pete. you ever want to talk to someone i'm around

**Sent: Peter 6:09**

 

> that's super sweet logan, thanks. i'll take you up on that sometimes. rn tho i think i've been pretending to be in the bathroom a little too long. ttyl.

Later that night Peter changed Logan's name to 'L' in his phone so that Erik wouldn't realize who it was.

* * *

Peter woke up horrifically late in the morning. He only had time to throw on his clothes and jet down to Stark's class. He didn't have any breakfast, his teeth weren't brushed, and he hadn't woken up early enough to do his homework.

So he was fucked.

He'd been up till ten trying to help Erik finish his homework since the man had done no assignments since school started. To be fair, all three of them had been due today, but there was no reason Erik should have procrastinated them for so long. It would have been a perfectly reasonable workload if he had done them the night they'd been assigned.

Peter slid into his desk just as the bell rang and Steve shot him a half confused, half worried look.

Mr. Stark looked around the room briefly and then marked roll on his computer. "All right, everyone's here. Okay, let's see... Announcements! Soccer practice tonight at six, golf at four. Dinner will be over at six so that the cafeteria can be deep cleaned. First soccer game of the season is this Friday, it's a home game so everyone should probably go. I here our team's not half bad." Mr. Stark said and flashed the three of them an innocent wink. Peter couldn't help but turn a little bit red. "Okay that's it, just get your homework out from last Friday and I'll take it."

Peter sat awkwardly in his desk as the other five kids got their work out. It was monumentally worse to have not done his homework in a class this small, painstakingly obvious that he hadn't done it. He was glad he didn't have any homework in any of his other classes.

Steve and Loki gave him a surprised look but didn't comment.

Mr. Stark grabbed the papers from everyone else and lingered in front of Peter's desk for a moment. "Why don't you stop and talk to me for a minute after class Peter?" And all he could do was nod in response.

The class got easier after that but Peter was dreading when the bell would ring and he would have to stay back. The clock ticked by faster than it usually did, the class seemingly going by in ten minutes instead of fifty, and then the bell was ringing.

Loki clapped him on the shoulder on his way out and Steve gave him a pursed lipped look, but both of them left with the other three and then Peter was left alone with Mr. Stark. He knew that Stark didn't have a class this period, he'd basically memorized his timetable.

"I'm so sorry Mr. Stark, I can have it done for you by the end of the day, I promise, I never do this." Peter tried to explain when it was obvious that Mr. Stark wasn't going to start talking first.

"Peter, Peter, calm down, it's fine. And I know you never do this. You have a basically perfect record at this school, nothing below a 98 in any class, ever? That means you don't forget your homework often. Wanna tell me what happened?" He asked, leaning against his desk and crossing his arms against his broad chest. Peter had to look away, but then he was looking at the mans thick thighs as they pressed into the table and fanned out, so Peter looked at the desk in front of him.

"I uh, I just forgot to do it." He said quietly.

"No." Was all Mr. Stark said and Peter looked up at him, meeting his gaze.

"What?" Peter questioned, of all things, not expecting that response.

"I said no, that's not true. Tell me what really happened and I'll give you an 'a' on the assignment anyway. No strings attached."

"I, erm, uh, my boyfriend, Erik, he didn't do any of his homework I was trying to help him catch up." Peter finally admitted after a few long moments. For some reason Peter knew that Stark would be able to tell if he was lying, would basically be able to see right into his soul. So Peter told the truth.

"Erik... Ah, he's in my Calc I class, you telling me you did all of his homework for him?" Stark questioned and Peter looked back down at his desk.

"No! Not at all, I was just helping him. He's not great at math... Or any subject I guess. Listen he's smart, he just procrastinates and I didn't help him study for this test the other day and I felt bad, and he needed my help and..." Peter trailed off with a long sigh,  _and all of this is ridiculous,_ he though.

"And... None of that's your fault Peter. What's your day look like Peter?" He asked, looking straight at Peter with unwavering eye contact as if the kid was actually looking at him.

"My day sir?" He questioned, not sure what he meant.

"Yeah, like what else are you doing today?" He reiterated the question.

"Just school, then soccer, then homework." He said softly and very slowly looked up at Tony.

"Why don't you come in after school and you can help me work on something? Gives you a reason to tell that boyfriend of yours to shove off and do his own homework." That made Peter laugh a bit, and then Mr. Stark laughed too and Peter saws the lines of his eyes crinkling up and Peter thought it was the most handsome thing he'd ever seen.

"Y-yeah, that sounds good sir." Peter said, giving him a lopsided grin.

"Alright, you're free to go Pete. No more missing assignments though!" He warned and Peter nodded, flashing him one last quick glance before he made his way out into the hall.


	3. It's A Bond Car

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The support I'm getting on this story is really overwhelming!!! Thank you to everyone who's been commenting and such. Really motivates me to keep up with a chapter a day xoxo.  
> -i gave t'challa and erik the last name 'romanda,' it's t'challa's moms name.   
> -i know absolutely nothing about cars!! so there's yet another thing in this story that i will probably get facts wrong about.   
> -the aunt May in this story is the super old aunt May from like the Toby Maguire movies. Peter's still Tom though.  
> -the tags say slow burn but I'd like to extrapolate that the first real romance between pete and tony is in chapter 7. I mean, there's some sexual tension, but just a heads up that we're a little under halfway there :)

"And I need your analysis on the Lincoln speech by... Let's say tomorrow." Mr. Barton finished and Peter's eyes flicked over to the clock above his head. It was nearing the end of class and his stomach was boiling with apprehension. Peter had no idea what Stark had in store for him. If he didn't know any better, Peter would think it was detention, but the way that Mr. Stark had phrased the proposition: " _help me work on something."_ It was intriguing.

"Hey Parker, tell me what I just said and the deadline is extended to Wednesday." Mr. Barton said and focused his gaze on Peter, raising his eyebrows.

"Oh, uh you said: ' _Let's say tomorrow'_?" Peter repeated, but he'd been zoned out, truly he wasn't sure if that had been the last thing Barton had said.

"Annnnnnnd, you got lucky. Alright, essay due on Wednesday. Bell's about to ring, you guys can go." Mr. Barton motioned to the door and the class got up in unison.

Quill and Drax clapped him on the back, both of them basically crushing Peter with the combined force of their arms. "Good work there Petey." Quill said. "We're gonna go smoke some cigs behind the school. Wanna come?" He offered.

Peter shook his head and ducked out of there grip. "Mr. Stark wanted to see me after school. Sorry guys, I'll see you at practice." He promised.

"Hey Pete, Coulson's got some pretty cool news for you at practice. Keep your chin up kid." Quill said and put his hand on Peter's shoulder, forcing him to stop walking and actually turn to look at Quill.

"Uh, y-yeah, will do, thanks cap." He said with a small half smile and then pulled out of Quill's grip.  _Does everybody thing I'm losing my fucking mind?_ He thought to himself, shaking his head sharply to try and clear it. He didn't think he'd been acting any differently, but apparently everyone in his life thought that he was.

Most kids were heading to their dorms or outside. Eighth and ninth graders still had on extra class, but other than that everyone was out of the day. Peter never really liked this time of day when he didn't have anything to do other than hang out with people or do homework. He had three hours until soccer practice, during which he would have to get dinner, but other than that there was nothing to do.

So Stark really had offered him a respite since undoubtedly Erik would have sought him out, and Peter didn't think after this morning he would be able to hold his tongue around the man. Peter didn't know why he let Erik boss him around last night, it was like a part of him had just shut down.

He tried not to think about it though as he ducked into Mr. Stark's room where the man was leaned over his high desk, scribbling notes on some papers.

"Hey, Mr. Stark?" Peter got his attention and stood a little awkwardly in the doorway, hands wringing around the strap of his book bag.

"Hey Pete, come in, set your stuff down. You cool with getting that stuff dirty?" He asked as Peter took a step in, dropping his gab on the ground by Stark's desk. He looked down at this dress slacks and neatly pressed white shirt.

"I, uh, should I change?" He asked, looking back up to Mr. Stark who was wearing a pair of black reading glasses and Peter had to stop himself from licking his lips as an unconscious reaction to seeing something attractive.

"Probably, why don't you go throw on some jeans and something you don't care about and meet me in the parking lot." Stark suggested and Peter screwed his eyebrows together.

"What exactly are we doing?" Peter asked, picking his bag up and putting it back over his should.

"Now that would ruin the surprise Peter." Stark claimed and gave him yet another innocent wink that Peter's mind played up.

"Uh, yeah, sounds good. See you in twenty minutes."

* * *

**Received: Erik :) 3:16 pm.**

> yo petey, wanna swing by my room? drax is out doing smthn

Peter was in the middle of changing, pulling on an old pair of light washed jeans that had paint on them, and an  _Alexandria High Soccer_ shirt from his old high school. Peter knew what that text from Erik meant, it roughly translated to: " _come by right now and we'll make out for three hours and then I'll try and pressure you into having sex, even though you say no every time."_ So Peter was glad that this time he had an actual excuse to the man.

**Sent: Peter 3:18 pm.**

> mr stark wants to see me, cant, sorry

**Received: Erik :) 3:19 pm.**

> Ok.

He rolled his eyes and shoved his phone into his back pocket, choosing to ignore Erik's passive aggressiveness and think instead about what he'd be doing with Stark. There was always a chance that it was going to be something totally not cool and super boring or something, but Peter had a suspicion that Stark would have something perfect. They didn't even really know each other and Peter was still sure it would be good.

No one was in the parking lot and there were probably only twenty cars total so it didn't take Peter long to see Stark leaned against a seriously beat up classic car. It looked like it had once been expensive but had probably been sitting in a junk yard for twenty years. It was painted yellow but that was a dull ugly mustard color and chipping.

"What's this?" Peter asked as he came up on Stark who had taken his glasses off and changed into a pair of sneakers and a tee shirt that pulled tightly on his biceps.

"You telling me you don't recognize  _the_ car?" Stark asked incredulously and Peter took a step back, trying to survey it.

He didn't know a lot about cars, he understood perfectly how they worked, what they needed to run, but he wasn't really invested in memorizing classic cars. Quill loved old cars and was always pointing them out to the team. But this car... something about it was nostalgic like from Peter's childhood. He walked around it once, taking in everything. Steering wheel was on the other side, meant it was imported... "Holy shit." Peter mumbled. "Oh sorry, sir!" He amended himself but Stark just cracked a smile at him.

"You got it kid?" He asked.

"It's a Bond car!  _You Only Live Twice,_ it didn't have a roof in the movie though did it?" He asked, looking up and making eye contact with Stark. It was a seriously cool car, Peter loved James Bond movies when he was a kid, and this car was completely iconic.

"Naw, that was a special topless model, only made two of those.  _These,_ however, 351. And this bad boy is number 13, pretty cool right?" Stark asked and Peter could see a twinkle in his eye, showing Peter something new about Stark that he honestly hadn't expected. It made sense though, the grease under his nails the first day they met.

"So what does this have to do with me?" Peter asked, looking over the car again. It obviously wasn't running and was parked suspiciously close to a sleek black truck with a tow hitch on the back, Stark would've had to have towed it into the parking lot. The hood was popped, and bent so it probably didn't close, and some of the engine was on the ground.

"Alright, here's the deal. You obviously need something to do other than Mr. Romanda's homework, and I need help fixing the car. So what do you say, wanna help me rebuild her? I  _might_ even let you drive it if we finish." Stark said, banging the roof for theatrics.

Peter could only stare at him for a moment in wide-eyed astonishment. "You want  _my_ help? I mean, yeah I absolutely want to help!"

"Awesome kid! Let's get to work, I'll give you the run down."

And Stark talked for probably thirty minutes about what was wrong with the car, walking him around the frame and peeking inside the body. Under the hood it looked like most of the parts were missing and Stark explained that they were going to rebuild the engine part by part, from scratch. Stark explained in depth to Peter about how the emergency brakes in the car mounted from the dashboard and gripped the discs directly to stop the car, giving Peter only the most basic of explanations before telling him to get to work resecuring the connection between the lever and the line.

They jacked the car up together so Stark could slide under it on what looked to be an old skateboard and get started on something that he hadn't explained to Peter. Pete crawled into the cab of the car, sliding the front seat back as far as it would go and cramming himself in uncomfortably. His head was resting on the break pedal, his back on the floor, and his legs traipsing up the broken and crusty leather seat.

He had a flat flash light laying on the floor next to his head, showing him directly where he needed to be working. The path was easy to follow and Peter could tell that the break pads and line were similar to the ones in Scott's car. The cars were made within a few years of each other which meant that the machinery, though from different countries, would be relatively similar.

Peter grabbed a flat head screwdriver from the bin on the asphalt just outside the car and then ducked back in, undoing a few screws that brought a panel off and showed Peter exactly what he wanted to be looking at.

He could hear Stark underneath the car, clanking around, and then a piece attached to the break pedal that his head was resting on came lose and Peter smacked his head on the ground, a large section of the floor coming off, Stark's face peering in through the hole. "Heya Peter." He said, rubbing grime out of his eyes and blinking up at him.

Peter had to crane his neck around awkwardly to actually look through the hole. "Uh, hey Mr. Stark." He said with a small half smile, shifting over so that his head was resting on one of the few parts of the underside still attached.

"Doing okay kid?" He asked, his disembodied voice flowing up through the cab and making Peter's hands sweat even more than they already were in the hot car.

"Yeah. Yeah I'm doing great." He said, truthfully. Everything was making sense, it was like working on a math equation but in three dimensions, and it wasn't a dumb fucking three dimensional graph. "Hey Mr. Stark?" He asked.

"What's up?" The response came promptly and then a curse as Mr. Stark must have banged his head on something.

"How'd you get this car? I mean even in this condition with like 300 of them made..." He trailed off. The school paid their teachers well and a lot of them were well off, but Mr. Stark just seemed to be in a bracket above all of them.

"It was a gift actually. Guess someone knew I liked cars." He answered and Peter pulled on a wire, getting a bunch of dust in his eyes. "Damn," he mumbled and slid out of the car.

"Bottle of water by the back wheel, pour it in you eyes it'll help. You can wears goggles if you want but I think they make me look dumb." The response was muffled since they didn't have a direct window to speak through anymore and Peter went ahead, pouring almost all of the water directly onto him. The sky looked a little darker outside and Peter wondered how long he'd been out there.

He pulled his phone off of the front seat and saw the it was 5:45. "Oh man, Mr. Stark I am so sorry I'm gonna be late for practice."

Stark slid out from under the car, his face had a streak of grease on the chin. "Sorry for keeping you Pete! You gonna come down tomorrow?" He asked.

"I'll come as long as you'll have me!" Peter rushed out, hoping that it didn't sound desperate or weird or anything. Stark just gave him a smile and Peter jogged to the main building, not able to get rid of the grin on his face.

* * *

"Alright, we're gonna have a little vote guys! I think our teams needs a vice-captain, you know, to help Quill out if he needs it. Sound alright?" Coulson asked, it was rhetorical but there was a chorus of indifferent noises from the group. "As this is a true democracy I'll announce your candidates and then you'll vote. Alright, number one is Peter, and candidate number two is also Peter. So let's vote, all in favor of Peter?" The team looked around at each other a little weirdly and Peter furrowed his brows. Was this the news that Quill had mentioned to him?

"Wow, a unanimous vote for Pete as vice, okay get out on the field. Pete, talk plays with Quill for this weekend at some point this week. Break." He called and the team got into position, jogging out.

Scott elbowed him on the way, going a long way to his position to run by Peter for a moment. "Dude, why do you think coach did that? Kinda weird, never had a vice before."

Peter shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know... I uh, Coulson's been kind of weird to me this year." He answered and shook his head, shaking away all the weirdness of the day.

"Well, stroke of luck for you then man." Scott said and ran off.

The practice that day went well, their practices always went well. And it was over before Peter even realized that he was leaving to go to the showers. He decided to go with the team this time, not wanting to split off from everyone else just yet.

Almost all of the shower stalls were full except for one and Peter slid into it, just washing himself off quickly. Quill was in the next one over and turned to face Peter. "Yo Petey, can you meet with me after school tomorrow?" Quill asked.

"Hey, uh, not after school. What about after practice?" Peter suggested, remembering that until the car was finished Peter was going to try and not take any days off from it.

"Yeah that works. What are you doing after school?" Quill asked as Peter turned the shower off and wrapped the towel around his waist.

"Mr. Stark needs me to come by after school." He answered smoothly. Peter could tell him the exact reason but it felt like a secret to him right now, and Peter wanted to keep it like that. It wouldn't be a very well kept secret because they were doing it in the middle of the parking lot, but for right now, Peter wanted to have that.

"Two days in a row Pete? That's sucks." Erik said, getting out of the shower himself with a towel wrapped loosely around his waist. Peter's eyes traveled up from Erik's navel to his collar bones a little too slow for them to be in the locker room. Erik gave him a lopsided grin.

"Yeah, few more days too." He said, pursing his lips to the side and trying to look upset in the least bit. "Wanna get dressed and go work on homework?" He asked and Erik nodded, the two pulling on their street clothes quickly and then heading up back to the main building.

The air was a little crisper this late in the evening, but still nice enough for a walk.

"So do you  _really_ wanna work on homework Petey?" Erik asked, slinging an easy arm around Peter's shoulders and pulling him in close to his side.

"I guess I could do my homework in the morning. I mean we did get an extension in Barton's class." He said and leaned up to give Erik a peck on the cheek.

"I'm sorry about Mr. Stark, I know I should have let you do your work last night." Erik apologized,  _actually apologized,_ and Peter had to gather his thoughts for a moment.

"Don't worry about it Er." Peter said and wanted to drop the subject.

TC would probably be in the main room until lights out so they went to Peter's room and in barely any time of all they were both out of their shirts and on Peter's bed. It was a single but they fit on it just find, moving against each other softly.

Peter was content to just kiss Erik for hours and Erik seemed fine to do that right now. He was shy when it came to this kind of stuff with Erik and he wanted to move slowly. They'd barely even given each other hand jobs and Peter was perfectly fine with that.

Erik's stubble brushed across Peter's chin and Erik cupped both sides of Peter's face, pulling him deeper into the kiss. Peter was on top, straddling Erik's hips in his addidas sweat pants, knees on either sides of Erik's crotch and Peter could tell that he was hard. Peter was half hard but not really feeling like he had to act on it at the moment.

Peter licked up into Erik's mouth, one hand clutching at his short dreads and the other on his bicep. Erik moved a hand down to Peter's hip and he let it rest there, not caring about it for the moment.

"You feeling good baby?" Erik asked and Peter mumbled a 'yes' up into his mouth.

Both of Erik's hands moved down to grope Peter's ass and Peter gave a small moan into his mouth. Erik thrust his hips up and pulled Peter's down, grinding against him.

Peter pulled back a little and tried to get Erik to take the hint that he didn't really want to do that at the moment. He had to be precisely in the mood for it, and not worried that his roommate and boyfriend's brother was going to walk in at any point.

"What's wrong?" Erik asked and roughly pulled Peter's hips back down. His cock was harder in his pants from the stimulation but nothing else.

"I don't want to right now." Peter said trying to put finality in his tone but not wanting to get in an argument.

"Fuck, you always do this Petey, I'm just trying to have a good time and you want to ruin it." Erik complained and rolled his hips up, trying to pull his head back from Erik's grip and break the kiss.

Peter shoved his hands against Erik's abs and the man contracted, breaking the kiss. "I said no!" He practically shouted, standing up off of the bed and pulling his shirt on hastily as Erik stood up too. Peter slung a jacket over his shoulders and wrenched the door open.

"What the fuck Peter! Can we at least talk about this?" Erik yelled, and Peter turned in the doorway to face him.

"There's nothing  _to_ talk about Erik! I said no, end of discussion." And then Peter slammed the door in Erik's face with probably more force than he needed to.

Erik didn't attempt to leave the room for which Peter was glad, he needed some time to just not see Erik, maybe a lot of time.

He had to walk through the main room to get out the exit he wanted and he tried to stalk quickly through the room full of eyes that were all on him.

"Peter! What did he do?" TC called after him trying to slow his roll.

"Pete we'll kill a man if we gotta!" Quill yelled.

Steve grabbed his shoulder because Peter obviously wasn't going to stop to talk to them. He needed some fresh air, he needed to go fucking work on Stark's car and just breathe. "Peter stop," Steve commanded and Peter stopped walking.

"I just want to go outside." Peter said and tried to keep his voice even, he didn't cry often but he was majorly upset and did  _not_ want to break down in front of his entire soccer team.

"That's fine Petey, just tell us what happened." Steve coaxed and Peter sighed, running a hand through his hair and thinning his lips.

"I'm just going to go outside." He said and pulled out of Steve's grip, walking outside, and this time nobody stopped him.

The air was even colder outside and he was glad he'd brought the jacket, the sun was just starting to go down but he assumed that Mr. Stark left the tools by the car, if he didn't he'd be out of luck.

When Peter rounded the corner to the car some tears started to fall and he sniffled angrily at them, rubbing his eyes quickly to try and get rid of them as they came out. There was a soft light emanating from underneath the car and Peter figured that Stark had left the flashlight on.

He rubbed a couple more tears out of his eyes and stopped at the car, getting down on his hands and knees to try and get the flashlight, but he was met with Mr. Stark, almost completely underneath the car and still working away at something.

"Mr. Stark?" He asked quietly and the man swore, hitting his head against the underbelly of the car.

"Damn, Peter?" He called and slid out from under the car. "What are you doing here?" He asked and in the near darkness he obviously couldn't tell that Peter was upset at the moment or that his eyes were ringed with red.

"Uh, I couldn't sleep, thought I'd come do some work." He admitted. He would have to  _actually_ do some homework in the morning though if he was going to work on the car, couldn't oversleep again.

"You alright kid, sound kinda weird." Stark said and grabbed the flashlight, shining it up at Peter's face but quickly setting it back down. "Oh man Peter, are you okay?" Stark asked and stood up off the skateboard, taking a step towards Peter to took a corresponding step back.

"I just, It's Erik, but I don't really want to talk about it." Peter tried to get the subject dropped.

"That's fine, no better medicine than occupying your mind." Stark said and flashed his grin before sitting back down on the skateboard and sliding under the car. And that was exactly what Peter needed, someone to not baby him for just one fucking minute.

They worked in silence for a while, Peter trying to finish everything up with the emergency break line, eventually he would have to get underneath the car where Stark was too, but for now he could still work in the cab.

"Hey Mr. Stark?" Peter called out softly, wanting to get another thing to occupy his mind. The work at the moment was kind of meaningless and wasn't taking much brain power to figure out, so Peter's mind was just replaying what had happened.

"What's up Peter?" He called back, since it was dark Peter could just see the glow of the flashlight from the missing panel by his head, if he looked over Mr. Stark's face was cast in a deep shadow.

"Can we talk?" He asked and turned over, reaching through the hole to grab Stark's soldering iron and fixing a bit of wiring.

"Yeah. What do you want to talk about?" Mr. Stark asked, very sweetly. Peter shivered a little with the cold in the car since it was basically pitch black outside. "There's a huge flannel jacket on the ground right outside if you need it." He added and Peter's hand groped blindly outside the car before he found it. Peter awkwardly pulled it on in the car, there was a hole where the elbow should be and it smelled like alcohol, but it was very warm.

"What did you do before teaching? Ya know, what's your life been like?" Peter asked, trying to pass it off as small talk even though he was genuinely interested in Stark's life, he didn't want to let the man on though.

"It's kind of boring Peter." He said and Pete had to chuckle at that, he  _highly_ doubted any man that led a life that would get him a car like this as a  _gift_ would be boring.

"Sir, all due respect, but you dress like a millionaire, you went to  _MIT,_ you received this car as a  _gift_? Sounds like you life was pretty interesting." He encouraged.

Mr. Stark sighed from underneath the car and Peter heard a wrench slipping on a nut. "I uh, I went into the army straight out of highschool-" Peter cut him off immediately.

"Wait, I thought you went to MIT?" He questioned, wasn't like he couldn't have done both, but the army had a minimum service requirement and if he'd graduated MIT... Stark didn't really seem that old.

"Yeah, about that, I graduated from MIT at seventeen. So I guess right out of college I joined the military. It was a little below my skill level but my parents died and I wanted to do something easy but with a purpose, damn I don't even know why I'm telling you this." He paused for a moment and Peter was worried that he wasn't going to continue speaking, finally though, Stark continued. "I was a combat engineer for maybe three years until the military realized what they were dealing with, don't mean to sound full of myself but a lot of those guys learned their trade  _in_ the military, I came prepared. They found some of my weapon schematics one day and asked if I could actually build them. Some of them were crazy, totally didn't work, I, heh," Stark let out a breathy laugh before continuing. "Once drew up plans for a completely armored suit that could shoot, and, get this,  _fly,_ totally crazy. But I made a lot of tech and such for them until... Until something happened."

"You don't have to continue." Peter reassured him, but he desperately wanted Mr. Stark to. It was interesting, nothing that he expected, but at the same time it made sense.

"No, It's almost over, I'll finish. There was a  _field incident_ and I left, just took off and I think they took pity on me so they let me go. I was making a lot of money when I left, kept me up for a few years until Natasha, uh sorry, Headmistress Romanov showed up at my door and told me to get off my ass, offered me a job and now here I am." He finished up. "What about you Peter, heard that you only came to Cantu last year, what's your story?"

Peter spit out some dust that got in his mouth. "My story is super boring compared to that."

"Soccer goldenboy and math whiz? Gotta have something behind that." Stark prompted. Peter wondered briefly why Stark would take an interest in his life, but it was probably just because Peter had asked him for his life story.

"Well my parents always had me in gifted programs. You know, private tutoring, private freaking pre-school, the whole nine. Then uh, my parents died too when I was ten. Moved in with my Aunt Ben and Uncle May. They tried you know, but they weren't as well off as my parents, then Ben died and I was enrolled in a public highschool, still on the soccer team, but nothing really going to me with mental stimulation. Got near a perfect score on my ACT and SAT and Mrs. Romanov sent me a letter offering a scholarship. That's it." Peter said. He'd been worried when he first got the letter, and he didn't want to leave aunt May alone to live by herself, but she'd prompted him to go.

"Hey that wasn't boring at all. Sounds like you've had a tough life too Pete." Stark said and then they fell into an easy silence, Peter able to think about Stark instead of Erik for a long while.

* * *

"Okay so I'm thinking we'll take this weekend off, well knowing you and I we'll say that and then see each other out here at five tomorrow. But anyway, I'll work on the engine, that's my thing and it's gotta be perfect, no offense but I've rebuilt a few engines, think you can handle fixing everything on the back. There's some body work and the lights need to be replaced." Stark explained quickly and Peter nodded along.

He was wearing full soccer gear since he had a game in, he checked his phone, twenty minutes. "Alright, uh, sounds good sir. Are you gonna come watch the game?" He asked hopefully.

Mr. Stark looked back at the car and the wrench in his hand for a moment, there was a lot more that needed to be done and this was kind of a shitty place to leave things, but the man set down his wrench and nodded. "Yeah, I'm gonna go get cleaned up, see you on the field kid. You better score a goal."

"Always do sir." He said, a bit more cocky than necessary, since he actually didn't usually score goals. He would score one tonight though, he would score it and he wouldn't care that his team cheered for him, he would only care that Mr. Stark was proud of him.

He jogged to the pitch, Scott catching up with him along the way. He and Quill had a pretty good game plan for tonight and Peter was hopeful they would win. They were playing against another private school, but they were never much of a challenge.

Erik didn't regard him, but they hadn't spoken much over the past few days. Erik had apologized and Peter said he needed time to think. In the back of his head, he  _knew_ that he was going to go back to Erik, but he wanted to feel like he had some control, at least for a little bit.

"Dude you got a smudge on your cheek." Scott said and licked his thumb before cleaning it off Peter's face. "Is that oil?" He questioned.

Peter shrugged innocently. "Oh, I don't know." He said. It was still a secret what he was doing with Stark, but it wouldn't be soon. It was almost the weekend again, the boys would be leaving campus to go to a party and Peter wouldn't go with him, he would stay behind to work on the car. He'd been working on it with almost all of his free time recently. If he wasn't training or doing homework he was working on the car, had even got the entire brake line fixed.

"Alright, we went over the plays last night, everyone ready? Heads in the game?" Quill asked and the team gave a nod. Peter, at the least, was prepared for a game.

Coulson trilled his whistle and they broke, taking their positions on the field. Peter recognized some of the players, knew some of their weaknesses, but he wouldn't get cocky, he would play a good game, because he knew Mr. Stark was watching.

The game started and Peter was whipped into it immediately, hitting the ground running and not faltering. He was across the field in an instant, working from the sides. There was a tall skinny guy right on him, easily six foot five and Peter was having a hard time seeing around him.

The ground was wet but Peter had just been running on it that morning so he was used to the terrain. Bucky had the ball and was going to pass it to TC, who seemed like the most obvious choice, but Peter had other thoughts.

"Buck!" He yelled. With the beanpole on him, the rest of the opposing team didn't even think to tag on him. Bucky got the message very quickly and performed and excellent pass to Peter who ducked around the tall guy with ease.

The ball was coming at him fast, the opposing team barely able to see what was happening, the goalie still looking at TC and Bucky, and then Peter was hitting it as hard as he could into the net.

He'd scored a goal within the first five minutes of a game, and he didn't even have time to be proud for his own sake, because he saw Mr. Stark standing in the stands with a smile on his face.


	4. Kinda Cramped Petey

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -good news for ya'll, i realized that my chapter plans for 4/5 were too short so they became one chapter, and my plans for chapter 6 i just realized were stupid, so now petey and tony will get together in chapter 5! Not really sure if that's slow burn anymore, but whatever. longest burn i've ever written.  
> -i think state soccer is in the fall, but i'm moving it to the spring for the sake of this fic  
> -just to reiterate, aunt may in this fic is like 70 years old.  
> -this chapter jumps around a lot. i don't know what happened but my plans just sucked for this part and so there's a lot of short chunks, sorry if it gets confusing.

There was eight minutes left in the game and they were neck-in-neck. The opposing team was one point ahead, but if they could just rally together and get another point then they would go into overtime and they would have another shot. As it was though, everyone seemed pretty disheartened.

The opposing team had snuck their way towards the goal. Peter was too far away to try and get over there, and even if he could Erik and Scott should have been able to deflect it. Scott ran at the man with the ball but the other guy had some crafty footwork and it was raining heavy so Scott slipped and fell on his knees in the grass, leaving basically just Erik and Loki to defend the goal. Thor should have been over there too, but the other team was guarding him very closely.

Peter jogged over to try and get closer to the action, just a show of good spirit but he arrived just as the other guy made his shot. Loki lunged for it and the ball grazed him but soared back into the net.

Time was called, they lost.

There second game of the season and they lost, that put them at a solid fifty percent. Peter tried to rationalize to himself that the fall season didn't even really count, it was really just making your way up in the brackets and seeing your opposition for the spring state tourneys, but Peter still hated losing. He fucking  _hated it._ He kicked a ball near him with a long sigh and made his way to the bench where Coulson was standing, no doubt ready to give them a pep talk.

Mr. Stark lingered in the stands until Peter made eye contact, he motioned with his chin towards the parking lot and the car, but Peter shook his head. He didn't want to work on the fucking car right now, he wanted to run until he collapsed.

"Guys, guys, don't get down on yourselves about one loss. It was a close game and it's only fall we don't have to start worrying about state until next semester. So don't get down on yourselves okay? No practice until next Tuesday, take some time to yourselves. Peter and Quill, talk more plays, something seemed off this game." He said and then quickly afterward called break.

"Things would have gone fucking great if we hadn't changed so much this time." Sam remarked after Coulson was out of ear shot.

Quill turned around from where he'd been talking to Drax. "You're blaming the loss on me? I mean I guess we changed some stuff, but none of us were playing out best today." He tried to reason.

"Oh right, because when we win a game it's all because of your awesome strategics but when we lose it's suddenly on 'all of us'?" Sam questioned, raising one brow at Quill. Steve put a hand on Sam's shoulder.

"Come on Sam, back off, we lost one game." Steve said.

"No, no, you know what we wouldn't have fucking lost if you were captain Steve. We all thought you should have been it last year man, and somehow this clown gets chosen." He argued, Sam was obviously angry, but Peter didn't really know why he was taking it out on Quill, they had all been playing shitty today.

"Let's calm down, this wasn't anybody's fault." Loki butted in.

"I just think it's ridiculous that you're the captain, you're not even our best player." Sam said, from the side Bucky a look that conveyed agreement.

"No, but he's won us like fifty games, and lost us what? Five now? You guys are being ridiculous." Scott said, siding with Quill immediately. Peter didn't know what to say, he didn't want to side with anyone, he didn't even really understand what they were fighting about. It was partly his fault too since he was vice, but no one seemed to care about that at the moment.

"That's five more than we should have lost." Thor said, joining in for some reason, Peter was trying to take everything in.

"Why don't we talk about this some other time when everyone's not super pissed off?" Quill suggested, he seemed just as confused by the recent turn of events as everyone else.

"Yeah no one's ever questioned him being captain before." Drax added.

"Pete, what do you think?" Scott looked over at Peter, obviously wanting him to take a side.

"I uh, I think I'm gonna go run some laps." He forced out quickly and immediately jogged to the track that they were standing ten feet away from. The stands had cleared out and the other team was gone, the only ones left on the pitch were his team still arguing among themselves. He lost sight of them as his back was turned, but as he came around for another loop they were walking off, a clear divide between the ones on Steve's side and the ones on Quill's side. Peter just shook his head at their antics.

He left his phone on the bench as he went around again, not liking the feeling of it bouncing around in his pocket. Coulson had stood by the bench for a moment, maybe just to make sure that Peter was okay, but he disappeared before he completed another lap.

It had been over a week since the incident with Erik, almost two, and they were fine again. They hadn't been intimate again since then, and Peter wondered if it was because Erik was pissed or he just didn't want to. The boys had found out that Peter was helping Stark restore a car, but had seemed almost completely uninterested in that and let him go about his life.

Erik was a little bothered that Peter was always gone, but Peter wasn't going to let him push him around. He car was important to him and Stark said if they really worked at it then they could get her running within the next couple of weeks.

Peter had fixed all of the body except for the hood, fixed all of the lights, hooked up what he could of the starter, and even meticulously recalibrated the gauges. He still had to change the oil, probably clean out everything related to that too since it had been sitting in their for a while.

When Peter's body caught up to his mind he realized that he didn't know how many laps he'd run. It was over four, but he had stopped counting since then, and he also noticed that there was someone sitting on the bench who was wearing black shades and a smart tweed suit.

Peter was across the pitch from Mr. Stark but he didn't want to stop running yet, his body wasn't exhausted yet, he would go around a couple more times. Stark looked like he'd been waiting, he could wait some more. He passed Stark who simply followed his with a turn of his neck as Peter started around again, not saying anything. And then once more Peter went around, wordlessly passing Stark, and then finally, he stopped and sat on the bench next to him.

He was dripping sweat, rolling down him in slow rivulets. His hair was sopping and he was so hot that he had to strip his track suit jacket off, tossing it on the ground and looking up at the sky. No doubt his red shirt was turned a maroon by the sweat coating it.

Stark pulled a bottle of water, seemingly out of nowhere, and passed it to Peter who poured it over himself. It was only probably 60 degrees, but Peter felt like a furnace.

"You done?" Mr. Stark asked, pushing his sunglasses back on his head and bunching up his hair like Peter liked it. He almost told him then, told him that he thought it was cute when his sunglasses ruined his perfect hair, but he didn't.

"Done with what?" Peter panted out and sucked in a few more breaths.

"Venting your frustration." Stark extrapolated and Peter sighed. Stark always knew what Peter was up to. Whether he was picking at his fingernails because he was anxious regarding a test, or he was running laps because he was pissed about a game. Stark knew, Stark understood.

"Yeah, I'm done." He finally said, wiping the sweat from his brow and pushing his hair back. It was probably only five in the afternoon since they'd had an early game, the sun was still bright outside. The boys were probably making plans for the night. It was Friday night, of course they would have plans.

"You gonna go get drunk with your team?" Mr. Stark asked coolly. It wasn't an accusation and it wasn't something that he could deny. Mr. Stark was simply stating that his team would be getting drunk, the only variable was Peter.

"Rather get drunk by myself." He said honestly. Peter would like to just sit in his room with a feminine bottle of wine at the moment. Drink until he vomited, or drink until he passed out, either one. Drank until Erik cared about him.

"You could do that." Stark said, looking out over the pitch, not judging Peter for his choices. "Or you could come help me piece by piece replace everything that has to do with the oil in the Toyota." Stark offered.

The oil, they needed to fix that soon because it was corroding some of the lines in the car. Stark had ordered all of the parts they needed, the only other component was Peter's help. "Let me go get changed. I'll see you in an hour." And Peter stood off the bench, stretching his arms above his head.

Mr. Stark stood too and put a hand on Peter's shoulder. "You don't  _have to_ Pete." He emphasized.

"Yeah but I want to." He assured and ducked out of Stark's grasp, using his last bit of energy to jog to the main building.

**Received: The Avengers 5:30 pm.**

 

> _captain america:_ not sure what happened earlier, but I think we should forget about it
> 
> _starlord:_ that's my vote as well. [5:31]
> 
> _ant man:_ i think we were just angry [5:32]
> 
> _winter soldier:_ sorry quill, wasn't ur fault tonight [5:32]
> 
> _falcon:_ yeah quill i'm sorry. i missed a pass and i was just pissed [5:34]
> 
> _loki:_ I think you all missed ~every~ pass. [5:35]
> 
> _thor:_ and you couldn't deflect a single ball [5:36]
> 
> _loki:_ I can't say no to balls in my face :/ [5:36]
> 
> _starlord:_ ahaha alright i'm gonna head into town and see if these fake ids are for shit [5:38]
> 
> _black panther:_ sounds like a plan [5:39]
> 
> _thor:_ loki ur not invited u look like ur 12 [5:40]
> 
> _loki:_ You look like your head got smashed in, eat shit brother. [5:42]
> 
> _ant man:_ if we're uninviting small people, i think that pete and buck both look like they're 12 also [5:45]
> 
> _killmonger:_ pete probably won't come, pretty sure he's running a marathon outside [5:47]
> 
> _ant man:_ anyone been out to check on him? [5:48]
> 
> _loki:_ I think he just has to work off some steam. He seems really touchy recently. [5:49]
> 
> _starlord:_ i think we should back off the kid a lil. he makes some good goals but he isnt a fucking wizard or anything [5:51]
> 
> _spiderman:_ u remember the kid is part of your group chat [5:53]
> 
> _captain america:_ just worried about you, pete [5:55]
> 
> _spiderman:_ I know. Stop it. [5:56]

Peter silenced his phone and left it in his room while he was changing. He pulled on a pair of khaki shorts and a tee shirt, bringing the flannel he'd stolen from Mr. Stark with him just in case they were out late and it got cold. The evenings were bitter this time of year in Virginia. He wore the big shirt most nights that they were out working, Peter didn't really have any jackets he could afford to get dirty, and Stark hadn't mentioned it.

In the parking lot, most of his team was heading out the front gates, free to go since it was Friday night. He made a bee-line for the car though, raising a hand to Quill who waved him good bye before they made their way out. Peter didn't even have a fake i.d so he couldn't have gotten any drinks, but the rest of the team had made them last year.

Erik jogged over to Peter quickly before he left with everyone's else. "Hey Peter, you feeling okay? I mean, I know you hate that question. But you went for one of your stress runs, so I'm just wondering what has you stressed." Erik asked, resting a hand softly on Peter's shoulder.

Pete gave him a small smile and leaned up to peck his cheek. "I'm fine, just didn't like everyone fighting. See you tomorrow, I'll bring you some tea for your hangover." He said cheekily, assuming that Erik would probably get just as drunk as the rest of them, and they could get pretty damn drunk.

"Keeping me straight Petey, alright yeah see you tomorrow." He promised and brushed a thumb along Peter's cheek bone before turning around to take off with the rest of the team.

Stark was bent over the hood of the car, the band of his  _Calvin Klein_ boxers peeking above his jeans. His shirt was pulled tight across the muscles of his back and his hair was slicked back with sweat. He glanced back at Erik over his shoulder, and then to Stark. He shook his head, clearing any haze and came up beside Stark.

"Gonna get started on the oil Mr. Stark." Pete said and grabbed the skateboard that was leaning against the side of the car.

"Actually I need your help with something else. You know that torsion bar we were gonna replace underneath the car? Yeah well the old one just cracked so we  _really_ need to get it replaced. You get under the car and get the old piece out, I'll try and brace everything up here." He instructed and Peter nodded, laying his back on the skateboard and sliding under the car.

The bar was easy enough to find since it was pretty huge. He could see Stark from underneath the car, still leaned over the hood and working on it from the top. Peter got to work with a screw driver, trying to undo all the parts and get the piece out without letting it all drop on his face and crush him. He used his knee to awkwardly stabilize one part of it while his hands worked to get the rest of it.

He had to put another knee up to keep a piece of the chassis from coming loose. The bar was basically spreading two parts of the car, and by taking it off he was putting other parts of the car at risk. Thankfully, a lot of big parts weren't in the car yet or else this would have been a much more major operation, but Peter was at a very awkward angle. He was basically doing a crunch, with both his legs in the air and having to still work with his hands.

"Hey Mr. Stark! Some pieces are falling and I can't get all of them." Peter called out finally, he probably could have stayed in that position forever but another part seemed like it was coming loose.

"Alright, yeah I'm done up here, give me one second." Not a minute later Stark was sliding under the car on yet another skateboard that Peter hadn't seen around before, just like Mr. Stark though to have a multitude of expensive tools but rely on old skateboards to get underneath the car.

He slid under next to Peter and took in the situation with a small chuckle. "Little help?" Peter asked, turning to give him a smile as well.

"Yeah, yeah. These parts shouldn't be falling anyway. Just get that bar in and then we can fix the side by your head that's slowly falling in." Peter looked up and noticed that there was a large piece of metal that was sagging closer to his head. Stark pushed himself closer to where Peter's legs were and pushed one away, resecuring the part that was falling. Stark's elbow brushed against Peter's calf and he scrunched his nose up a little at the feeling, it was weirdly intimate.

Peter tried to forget about it by focusing on his work, but then Stark had to move his other leg and if Peter didn't know better he would have thought that Stark's hand hesitated on his leg for just a moment longer than necessary.

With everything back in place Stark scooted up next to him, and Peter sucked in a breath. They were shoulder to shoulder, Stark working on something right next to Peter's hands. Peter went stiff, but it wasn't because he was afraid or uncomfortable. "Sorry, kinda cramped Petey." Stark said and Peter sucked in a breath. "Uh, sorry, Peter." He corrected himself.

"It's cool, everyone calls me Petey." He reassured, he wanted to tell Stark to keep calling him that, but held his tongue.

"I'm gonna reach over you real quick." Stark said and then suddenly Stark's shoulder blade was on Peter's chest and Peter had to tweak his lips to the side. "Alright I think that should be it." Mr. Stark said as Peter finished up with the bar.

Peter looked over at him right as Mr. Stark was looking over and their noses brushed against one another. They both didn't move for a moment, staring into each others eyes and sharing breath. Peter, oddly enough, broke the contact first, sliding out from under the car and breaking the trance they'd been in. Peter had to move, or else he would have closed the distance and kissed Mr. Stark, and he couldn't do that.  _He couldn't._ Neither of them mentioned the moment after that.

* * *

**Received: 456-8734-0922 4:18 pm.**

 

> Peter Parker?

**Sent: Peter 4:19 pm.**

 

> yeah, who's this?

**Received: 456-8734-0922 4:22 pm.**

 

> It is May!

**Sent: Peter 4:23 pm.**

 

> No way! You got a cellphone without my help? awesome

**Received: Aunt May 4:25 pm.**

 

> I still have some tricks up my sleeve Peter. I have another surprise for you too.

**Sent: Peter 4:27 pm.**

 

> oh man, two surprises in one day?

**Received: Aunt May 4:29 pm.**

 

> I will be at your game tonight. And then we will go to dinner.

**Sent: Peter 4:30 pm.**

 

> woah May you didn't have to come all the way out here! But that's awesome

**Received: Aunt May 4:32 pm.**

 

> See you after your game mister.

Peter left his phone in the locker room and made his way out to the pitch with a huge smile on his face. He looked out to the stands, and sure enough, May was sitting in a seat, just two down from Mr. Stark.

"Alright, everyone huddle in!" Quill called and Peter got into the circle, right next to him. It was just a week after their last game and they'd been training pretty seriously for it. There was no chance they would loose since they were in peak shape and the opposing team wasn't usually very great. "This is probably going to be an easy game,  _but_ don't let you guard down, alright?" He asked and everyone nodded. It was too early in the season for them to get cocky, and their record still wasn't good enough.

"Hey what about that thing that Peter did the first game? That goal he made? Think we could do that again?" Steve suggested.

"What do you think Peter. Can you pull it off?" Quill asked looking over at him.

"Oh, uh I mean it was kind of a stroke of luck but I can try it." Peter promised.

"Sounds good, let's break and get out on the field." Quill said and the team broke their circle, jogging out to their spots.

The game was just as long as always, but as they all suspected, it wasn't a challenge at all. Peter scored  _two_ goals, one for Stark and one for Aunt May. They ended up winning the game 4-1, which is about what they'd expected. It was still nice to win one though, after their loss last weekend.

The past week had been full of practices and running, Peter barely had time to work on the car more than his usual few hours a day, but it was coming along really nicely. The only weird thing was that Mr. Stark had been a lot more professional towards him. Hadn't called him Petey again and had barely even gotten close enough for them to brush shoulders. Peter understood why, he just didn't like it.

* * *

"You're just so good at that game. I don't understand why you haven't gotten a college scholarship for it yet." May mused over her dinner. It wasn't a fancy restaurant, just a diner that they found in the middle of town. Peter was just wearing jeans that he'd changed into, had barely even showered off so that he could get going with May, who had driven all the way from Alexandria to Richmond. Peter didn't like her driving by herself, but she often liked to remind him that she wasn't  _that_ old. Peter just couldn't help but worry about her, she was the last thing he had.

"I think i'll have enough academic scholarships to get in somewhere good." He assured her. He'd already been given a few scholarships, but he was really hoping to get a full ride somewhere. He and May had virtually no money, he couldn't work while going to Cantu, it would just be impossible to swing any really good colleges without almost a full ride.

"Well, I know you'll make it. My Peter's the smartest kid in Virginia." She said and Peter let out a laugh, choking on his soda a little which made her laugh as well. "So how's your boyfriend? Erik? He seemed so nice." She asked. He'd brought Erik around for dinner twice during the summer. It was hard since they didn't live in the same town, but Erik's family was loaded enough that they were able to meet a few times over the summer. Most of it he'd spent hanging out with his old friends from Alexandria.

"I-uh, things are fine.  _Good,_ things are good." He said. Usually Peter would tell May everything, but he just didn't want to think about Erik and Stark, didn't want her to worry about him.

"Peter." She said shortly and raised an eyebrow at him. "Don't lie to me." She wanted.

 _How the hell does everyone know when I'm lying,_ he thought to himself, frustrated that she saw right through him. He felt like everyone could see right through him, apparently he wasn't as good of a liar a he thought.

"Uh, I guess things aren't all that good. Kind of thinking of breaking things off." He said with a slight shrug of his shoulders and tried to distract himself by taking a huge bite of his burger, stuffing his mouth so he couldn't answer any more questions.

"Have you found another boy you like?" She asked, not caring that Peter was currently chewing and would have to take a moment to answer.

He took some time to think about his answer as he finished eating, wondering just how much about Stark he should tell her. He  _definitely_ shouldn't say he's a teacher. "Yeah actually, there's this one guy I uh, I  _really_ like him." Peter emphasized.

"Why don't you tell me about him? I want to know all the juicy details." She encouraged him.

"Oh like you don't get enough gossip at the hospital?" He asked her and she playfully slapped him on the shoulder. "Fine, fine. He's uh, he's handsome. Like really handsome, insanely handsome. Always dresses nice, he has such a nice bu-body." He corrected himself with a small flush and May just grinned.

"And what's his name Peter?" She asked and he scrambled to think for a moment. What  _was_ his name? He had to have seen it written out somewhere.

"It's uh, Tony. Yeah Tony." He finally said, a small grin creeping to his face at having said that man's name out loud. He's never said it before, and he liked it. Tony Stark.

"Well sounds like you really like this boy Peter. You should go for it. I mean, if you're sure, I know you really liked Erik too, don't rush into anything, but do what's best for you." She said and Peter nodded along, May always gave the best advice.

"Yeah, got it May. Now what were you telling me about this nice man getting hip surgery?"

* * *

"So that was the Aunt May you told me about?" Stark asked. He was in the back seat of the car leaning over where he was putting in new speakers right behind the back seats. Peter was in the front of the car working on the stereo part of it. If he turned his head just a little Stark's ass, covered in denim jeans that were just a little too tight, would be right there.

"Yeah, I was super surprised. She's only been to like three of my games. Used to come all the time but now the drive is hard on her." He explained and put the flashlight in his mouth so that he could better see all the small wired he had to hook up. It was not an easy process putting a new stereo in a car from the 60s, but Stark was basically determined to get it done. The car was cooking along. Peter just had to paint it, then Stark would finish up everything with the engine, they would complete redo the interior since it was gross, and then  _hopefully_ , she would be street worthy.

"Well she was seriously cheering for you. Maybe the loudest old lady I've ever met." Stark joked and Peter laughed a little.

"She's pretty passionate about my soccer. Well everything I do really. She's always there for me. I just wish that she didn't have to keep working. She's only on call, but still I wish she could retire." He mused. She's lived such a crazy life that Peter thought she ought to have the right to retire, but she just wouldn't make enough money for the apartment, and she didn't want to get rid of it because Ben had lived in it.

"That sucks. Hey one day you'll be making the big bucks though and she won't have to do anything." Stark promised and then slid out of the back seat. "Alright, that is in there about as well as it's gonna be. Want a soda Pete?"

Peter got out of the car as well, it was unseasonably warm outside and so they were both just wearing white tee shirts. Stark's was a little see through but Peter looked away. "That sounds great sir."

Stark grabbed his bag from the ground and handed Peter a luke-warm coke that he opened and drank about half of in the first sip, not realizing how dehydrated he was until it was in his system, should probably have some actual water at some point.

"So do you  _actually_ skateboard or do you just have them?" Peter asked, taking a seat on one of them and absentmindedly pushing himself back and forth with his feet on the ground.

"Oh kid, you're talking to a skateboard pro." Stark said and gave him an innocuous wink before setting down his soda and grabbing the other board. He set it on the ground, gave Peter yet another wink and then did basically the most flawless kick flip that Peter had ever seen.

"Okay seriously, where did you have time to learn how to do that?" Peter asked and Stark did an ollie, seemingly just showing off with fancy board work at this time.

"I graduated from MIT but I didn't go to most the classes." He joked. "Here get on that board I'll show you some stuff." He said.

"Uh, I don't know, I've never even ridden a skateboard." He admitted. He never had the type of friends who would go to the skatepark or anything, and it kind of intimidated him. Skateboarders seemed so cool and Peter was so  _not._

"Come on it's easy. Get on, here I'll hold your hands." And then Mr. Stark was gripping both of his hands as he stood on the skateboard and got himself balanced. Peter had a hard time focusing on the actual skateboard when his hands were locked in with Starks. Both of them were clammy, but Peter didn't care, not at all.

Finally, Stark pulled his hands away and let Peter balance himself. "Look you're a natural. Then you just put down your front foot and push yourself forward. Kinda hard on the asphalt but not impossible." Stark got on the other board and demonstrated.

Peter looked down at his feet, trying to position them exactly like Stark had his and then he slowly lowered his front foot to the ground and pushed, going maybe half a foot and not putting his front foot back on the board.

"See you're ready for the big leagues!" Stark encouraged and Peter tried one more time, bringing his front foot back on the board this time, but falling spectacularly onto the ground. "Oh damn, you okay kid?" Stark asked and walked over to where Peter had fallen.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine. Maybe I need a  _little_ more practice." He joked and Stark held out his hand. Peter took it naturally and stood up.

Stark had an easy smile on his face and looked at Peter, studying him almost. Peter focused his own eyes on Stark's lips, their hands still clasped loosely.

"Uh, alright then. Let's get back to work." Stark said, breaking their contact.


	5. Where's Home?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i was so convinced today that i'd posted this chapter last night! I was super confused as to why no one was commenting on it and i was like 'was it really so shitty that everyone's ignoring it?' lmao.  
> ~dRaMa~ this chapter  
> -i know i made the car seem like it was gonna take forty years to fix but just shhhh they worked very fast ok  
> -it's not obvious but this chapter is about two weeks after last chapter.  
> -this chapter is a little short, sorry.  
> -no chapter tomorrow because it's my birthday this bitch is 21 babeyyyy

Peter was sitting on the far side of the field with Bucky and TC just after school got out. It was crisp outside and the car didn't need anymore work. They were planning on taking a secret test drive around five. It was a Thursday so technically Peter couldn't leave campus, but Stark could and he could certainly attempt to smuggle Peter out. Pete had told Stark that he could go for a ride without him, it was his car. But Stark had told them that it was "their car" and he wouldn't go without Peter.

Bucky passed Peter a cigarette and he lit it, taking a very small drag and then puffing out the smoke. Peter didn't smoke often, didn't even really like it, but Bucky and TC had asked him to hang out so Peter had agreed. Smoking the second cigarette of his life wouldn't get him addicted so he didn't really see it as a problem.

"Hey, who is that?" TC asked, pointed towards at two figures jogging across the field.

"Looks kind of like Steve and Scott maybe?" Bucky said and squinted his eyes a little, trying to make out who they were. The sun was behind them though so it was hard to tell.

"Peter!" A voice yelled and the three of them immediately got to their feet, that was not Steve or Scott, that was Mr. Barton.

"Oh shit." Bucky said and smashed the pack into his back pocket, putting out his cigarette on his jeans and shoving that into his pocket as well.

"We're screwed." TC said and did the same that Bucky had just done. "So screwed." He reiterated, eyes wide.

Peter was scrambling with what to do with his, he was wearing a pair of nice sweat pants, so finally he just squeezed it tightly in his hands and tried to cover the wince of it burning against his palm. They were probably already caught, but it was worth a shot.

"Pete, you gotta come with us,  _right now._ " Barton said and Peter looked confused between TC and Bucky for a minute. "We don't give shit you were smoking, just don't do it again and all that, but Pete you have to come." He said and then Peter, Banner, and Barton were jogging back across the field, TC and Bucky taking off in the opposite direction.

"I don't understand, what's going on?" He questioned, finally opening his fist and dropping the now burnt out cigarette on the ground, glancing down at his hand that was stinging, but choosing not to worry about it at the moment.

"We'll tell you when we get to Ms. Romanov's office." Mr. Banner promised.

When they finally made it to the office he was greeted by Ms. Romanov in all of her intimidating glory, along with Mr. Stark sitting in one chair, and Dr. Strange in another. "Peter, please take a seat." She said and Pete sat down on the open sofa. There were chairs surrounding a coffee table, he was opposite of Ms. Romanov and Mr. Barton sat next to him, Mr. Banner remaining standing.

"What's happening?" He asked, concern spread across his face. Almost all of his teachers in one room, that couldn't mean anything good. Before Ms. Romanov could respond, Coulson slipped in to,  _alright make that actually all of my teachers._

"We've just received a call Peter, that your aunt May was in an accident." She said obviously trying to keep her voice soft and soothing.

Peter froze up going stiff as a board and he felt the blood rush from his extremities, his hands and feet went cold, his face turned a sinewy yellow color. "An accident?" He reiterated, slowly, testing the words on his tongue as he said them.

"She's in the ICU right now, the hospital contacted us to tell you. No one's sure what to expect right now." She said and Peter sunk into the couch. Mr. Barton put a soft hand on Peter's shoulder and Coulson was standing directly behind him, trying to offer a calming presence.

"Oh man, oh man." He muttered to himself, screwing his eyes shut and rubbing the heels of his hands into them. He was reminded of the stabbing pain in his palm and winced.

"Strange, I think he burned his hand if you could take a look at it." Barton said and Peter looked down at his palm which had a angry red, blistering circle on it.

"Yeah, of course." He got up from his chair and knelt next to Peter, taking the boys hand in his own. "I'll be right back, keep your hand open." Strange instructed and then left the room and Peter went right back to trying to deep breathe and understand what was happening around him. The pain in his hand was at least drawing some of his brain power to it, not leaving him completely open to just thinking about May.

"I need to go home. I can right? I can go see her?" He asked, quietly, pitifully almost.

"Oh Peter of course you can. We were just going to figure out how to get you there. Do you have money for a bus or a cab?" She asked, crossing one leg over the other and leaning over in her seat a little. She seemed really nice right now, Peter appreciated having a female presence among all the male teachers, she was making this a lot more bearable.

"No, I uh, we don't really have any money." He admitted with a sigh. They had an emergency fund, but May would need it to cover the hospital bills.

"I can take him. I'll drive him." Mr. Stark said and then looked at Peter for the first time since he'd entered the room. "Is that alright with you Peter?"

"Uh, yeah, yes that's fine." He said, looking into Stark's eyes. He just wanted to cry in that moment, but the small smile that Stark flashed him caused him to swallow down his tears and get back to the matter at hand.

"Okay, that works. Tony we'll cancel your classes for tomorrow. Peter I don't want you to come back until Tuesday at least. We'll try and help for a bus ride back or something. Does that sound alright?" She asked him and he nodded absentmindedly.

Strange walked back into the room and slathered a cream on Peter's burn. Coulson looked disapprovingly at the obviously shaped burn, but didn't say anything. He would probably let everyone off the hook for that.

"Can we go right now?" Peter asked, still quiet and timid.

"Yeah, let's go grab some of your stuff and then we'll leave as soon as we can." Stark promised and stood up while Peter did.

"I uh, thanks everyone." He said to the room full of all of his teachers. It wasn't kind of them to take the time out of their days for him like this, even if gratitude wasn't at the forefront of his mind at the moment.

"We're so sorry Pete, everything will work out for the best." Mr. Banner said reassuringly and then Peter was walking out of Ms. Romanov's office, Stark directly in step with him.

They walked in silence back to the dorms, and the serious look on his face accompanied with Mr. Stark's presence stopped anyone from approaching him, he didn't want to explain what was happening to anyone right now. Didn't want to break down crying in the middle of the upperclassman dorms.

He grabbed the bare minimum from his room, throwing them into his satchel, and then pulled Mr. Stark's flannel out of his laundry basket and pulled it on. He couldn't explain why he wanted to wear it when it was 55 degrees outside, it made him feel safe, in a way, and he desperately wanted to feel safe and protected at the moment. He threw his phone charger and toothbrush in his bag and then nodded up at Mr. Stark.

"We'll take my truck, should get us there fast." Stark said and spun the keys on his index finger.

"We're not going to take the car?" Peter asked quietly as they walked through the parking lot, looking up at Mr. Stark who was barely a few inches taller than him.

"We could, I just, we haven't test driven it yet." He explained.

"It'll work fine, we built it. I just, I want to take that car." He said. Usually Peter wouldn't be so demanding of someone who was going out of their way to help him, but right now he wasn't thinking about other people. He wasn't thinking about himself and aunt May.

"Alright Peter." Mr. Stark agreed and slid into the driver's seat. He positioned it for himself as Peter got into the passenger side. He buckled his seat belt roboticaly and put his satchel in the back seat.

"I'm going to call the hospital and see what her condition is." Peter said and pulled his phone out as Stark drove out of the front gates, the ride was smooth and the car was purring gently. He pulled up the number for the hospital May worked at, figuring that's where she would have been taken to. "Hi, yeah I'm wondering if I could get a status for May Parker? She's my aunt, she was in an accident." Peter asked as soon as the perky front desk lady answered the phone. He used to know all of them by name, but he hadn't been in the hospital with May recently.

" _Sure honey, give me one second... Oh her status just changed! She's been moved from intensive care to a regular room. Chart says she seems stable but they're gonna watch her for a while to make sure. Needed a few stitches and broke some bones but it looks good!"_

"Thank you so much." Peter said and hung up the phone, letting out a long sigh as he set his phone on the seat next to him.

"Good news Petey?" Mr. Stark asked, his hand resting on the gear shift, even though the car was a three-gear automatic. He must have driven a lot of stick shift in his time.

"Yeah it sounds like they're still watching her, but she's stable." He said, finally leaning back a little into the seats. "It's just, she's like so  _old_ you know. I don't understand how she could've gotten off so lucky. I worried something could still happen. Heart attack or something."

There was a beat where Mr. Stark didn't say anything, and then his hand slid off the gear shift and rested itself on Peter's knee. It was a little inappropriate for a teacher, but perfectly fine for a friend.

Peter took both of his hands and rested them on top of Mr. Stark's, sliding it a little further down his thigh, just so that the position would be comfortable, and then they were silent for almost the rest of the car ride.

* * *

"Peter!" May exclaimed when he walked into the hospital room. Mr. Stark was waiting in the lobby. Peter said that he just wanted to make sure that she was alright and then let her rest. The doctors weren't going to let him see her for more than twenty minutes today anyway just because she was still at risk.

"Hey May, how are you feeling?" He asked, taking a seat next to her bed and wrapping up one of her frail and small hand in both of his, marveling at how such a strong woman could seem so weak.

"Not very good at all, but the doctors say I'll be fine. How did you get down here so quickly? What about school?" Aunt May was of course more worried about him than she was about herself. She had always been selfless and Peter admired it greatly.

"Ms. Romanov said I could take a few days off and one of my teachers gave me a ride down here. I just needed to make sure you were okay." He explained and May gave him a smile.

"I'll always be okay Peter, don't you know? I'm glad I'll have you to keep me company, even if you can't stay long." She mused and Peter squeezed her hand a little in his, she gave a soft yawn.

"Are you tired May? I can head out." He offered and stood up from his seat.

"Oh I'm just a little sleepy from my busy day. I can stay up a little longer for you though Peter." She said but Peter shook his head.

"No, I'm here for a few days. If you're body is telling you it's tired, you should rest." He leaned over to give her a peck on the cheek. "I love you Aunt May, I'll be back tomorrow."

"I love you too Peter. Remember the spare key is under the rug." She reminded him and a small wink.

"I'd think after 16 years I'd have figured that one out." He said with a grin before giving her one last wave and exiting the room, gently closing the door behind himself.

he walked to the lobby feeling better about the situation. May didn't look sickly or pale and other than the broken wrist and ribs she would probably heal just fine. It was a stroke of luck that she wasn't badly hurt.

Stark was sitting in one of the uncomfortable waiting chairs, a cup of hospital coffee in his hand and a worried expression set into his features. Peter had held his hand the entire drive, literally. He hadn't let go of it for even one second. Even when Stark had apologized for his hand being clammy Peter refused to let him withdraw it. And he was still dressed in a horrible outfit of addidas sweatpants and a red flannel shirt, missing an elbow.

"Pete, how is she?" Mr. Stark asked, on his feet as soon as he noticed Peter and walking over to him.

"She'll be fine, still cracking jokes so I think that means she's good. She's tired though so I said I'd go home." He explained and they walked through the hospital together, heading toward where Stark had parked the car. It had made it the entire three hour drive perfectly, not one hiccup the whole time, and they were both very proud of that fact.

"Alright, where's home?" Stark asked, looking expectantly at Peter.

"Oh you don't have to drive me there sir, it's like a thirty minute walk. You can go back to Cantu." Peter gushed out, not wanting Stark to have to spend any time he didn't want with Peter. He would love to have Stark stick around for just a little while longer, but if the man had to get back then Peter would let him.

"I'm giving you a ride home Pete, get in. Also, you have your drivers license right?" He asked as they got in the car.

"Yeah of course." He said. He'd had it for about a year now, Scott let him drive the bug sometimes.

"You're taking this car when I go. I'll get a cab back." Mr. Stark said. Peter had to force his jaw from dropping.

"Woah, Mr. Stark you can't do that. This is like a million dollar car, and that taxi fare would be like three hundred dollars." Peter exclaimed, it would be an insane thing to entrust  _him_ , a 16 year old, with a car like this.

"I can and I will. I have plenty of money Peter, and I know you won't take any risks in this car. I want you to be able to get yourself around, so it's yours until Tuesday. Now, give me directions to your place."

Peter dropped the subject, figuring that Stark wasn't going to relent now that he knew Peter could drive.

They kept their hands to themselves on the way on the way to his apartment even though Peter wanted so desperately to hold Stark's hand in his own. He wouldn't push it, didn't want Mr. Stark to get mad at him.

They pulled into the parking spot, it was relatively safe parking because Peter needed to show his i.d for the security guard to let them in. They weren't in an amazing area, but at least the car would be safe.

"Want me to walk you to the door?" Mr. Stark asked with one of his relatively innocent winks that Peter couldn't really conceive of as being innocent anymore.

"That would be great. And uh, it's almost five, I could order a pizza or something? Just so you can eat before you go, it's a long drive I don't want you to have to turn around right away..." Peter rambled as he grabbed his bag and headed up to the third floor apartment with Stark.

"Peter, I..." Mr. Stark started timidly and Peter knew what was going to happen next. Stark was going to say that would be inappropriate, that as a teacher he couldn't do things like that with a student, that he shouldn't have done any of the things that they'd been doing. But Stark surprised him by giving a short nod. "Yeah, sounds good. Thanks." He said.

Peter tried not to act surprised as he let them into the apartment. It was in the same perfect condition that Aunt May always kept it in. There wasn't a sprinkle of dust in the place, all the vases had fresh flowers, and it smelled like citrus. Just how he remembered it.

Stark walked in next to him, taking the place in for a moment and following Peter to where he set down his bag on the small sofa. There was a framed photo of Pete as a fourth grader, fresh off his first soccer win. Mr. Stark picked it up and smiled fondly at the photo.

"I'm gonna go order that pizza. Just uh make yourself at home." Peter said, a little awkwardly before disappearing into the kitchen where Aunt May had meticulously written out the the numbers and best orders to all of her favorite pizza places.

While being away from Stark for a moment he actually thought about what was happening. Mr. Stark was in his apartment, they'd held hands for about three hours of a car ride, and now they were going to have dinner together. Peter was buzzing with anticipation, wanting to know what was going to happen between them, his mind blocking out any thoughts of Erik for the time being.

He peeked his head back into the living room where Stark was looking at a photoset on the wall. It was photos of uncle Ben. Him with Peter, him with May, him with Pete's parents. Peter loved those photos.

"Hey, it's gonna be like thirty minutes." Peter explained and Stark looked over from the photos, flashing Peter one of his signature grins.

"Never knew you were such a cute kid." He remarked and Peter felt an uncharacteristic blush creep onto his face. He was just an average kid, not especially cute... But Mr. Stark thought that he had been.

"Shut up." He said, exasperated, but smiling all the same.

Peter took a seat on the couch, pulling his shoes off and tucking his feet underneath him. There was a television that he turned on, but didn't pay attention to the news station that played like white noise in the background. Mr. Stark took a seat next to him.

They sat, just staring at the television and not speaking for probably five minutes until Peter looked over at Stark, studying his profile. He had a beautiful silhouette to him, every feature falling together perfectly on his face and his hair perfectly styles, though Peter preferred it mused up with sunglasses.

After a long moment of silence Mr. Stark looked over at Peter as well and Peter darted his hand out, slowly, tentatively, until it wrapped like a tendril around Stark's and held steadfast. Mr. Stark's expression didn't change as Peter took his large hand in both of his smaller ones, holding it securely in his lap.

"Peter." He almost whispered, just barely above his absolute threshold for sound, he found himself unconsciously leaning forward to hear better even if he wasn't speaking anymore.

"Mr. Stark." Peter echoed and then Mr. Stark's lips were pressing against his and Peter was eagerly trying to reciprocate.

It started out soft, just a brushing of lips against one another, and then without even drawing apart they delved in further, lips moving strongly against one another. It was wet and elegant all at the same time, exactly the kind of kiss Peter would have expected from Mr. Stark, and he loved it.

Peter found his hands in Mr. Stark's hair, ruffling it up the way he liked. One of Stark's hands was caressing his cheek, the other one was gripping his shoulder firmly. Pete pressed slightly against Mr. Stark, bringing their chests closer together, Stark got the idea and leaned back so that his head was on the arm rest of the couch and Peter was straddling him.

This was different from things he did with Erik. If he had been with Erik at the moment then the man would have been trying to get off, not worrying about giving Peter pleasure or enjoying the moment, just wanting to cum. Stark didn't so much as twitch his hips from where they were on the couch, and it wasn't because of a lack of arousal.

Their mouths opened and it became a hundred times as hot, both of them taking turns scoping out the inside of each others mouths, Mr. Stark languidly trailed his fingers up and down Peter's back, ghosting them over his shirt and making his shiver with anticipation.

Peter moved one of his hands down from Mr. Stark's hair, the other one bracing his body so he wouldn't collapse on the man, and thumbed over his rough beard, feeling the texture of it on the pad of his thumb. It was different from how Erik's face felt, and Peter liked it. He liked everything about Mr. Stark, and everyday he was finding more things he didn't like about Erik.

And then Peter found himself doing something he'd never initiated before, he rolled his hips down into Mr. Stark's. It was less of a voluntary and meaningfully sexual act, than just an unwitting reaction that his body had to being kissed and touched by Mr. Stark.

"Oh Pete." Mr. Stark mumbled against the kiss and Peter was worried he was going to make them stop, but he just rolled his own hips up, essentially grinding against Peter like they were both at a middle school dance.

Everything they were doing was slow and deliberate. They weren't rutting against each other like rabbits or kissing like animals. They were being tender, even Mr. Stark's hand dangerously close to cupping his ass was very tender in a way. It was like for the first time Peter was being held by someone who cared about him. He wasn't being held by someone who just wanted him to get over his issues, he was being held by someone who wanted to help him and be with him.

Peter's hand grasping at the collar of Stark's button up shirt was becoming more desperate, and he held himself up with the strength of his abs so that he could use both hands do undo a few of the buttons. He didn't even have to be touching, he just wanted to see, see how handsome every part of Mr. Stark was.

With his neckline freed up a little Peter moved his lips down, peppered them over his jawline, leaving nips and kisses the whole way until he reached the mans neck and gently bit a spot on it before covering it with a long and slow kiss.

Stark's wandering hands wandered their way up the hem of Peter's tee shirt, now clawing at the bare skin of his back and drawing his small frame tight against Stark's body. It felt like lightening coursing through him when they were chest to chest and he was able to roll his clothed cock against Stark's own.

"Oh shit Mr. Stark." He mumbled against his neck, taking only a moment away from his ministrations.

"Tony, my name's Tony." He said, hands moving around to the front of Peter's chest and miffing up his shirt just a little bit, revealing a thick stripe of toned stomach. Tony pulled Peter's face back up to give him a kiss before doing the same thing that Peter had been doing, kissing around his neck, Peter stretched his chin forward and Tony was given complete access to the expanse of unblemished skin.

"Tony..." He said, testing the name on his tongue around the man. He's said it to aunt May before, but never in front of Tony, he hadn't even been  _thinking_ of the man in terms of his first name. It was so intimate, so erotic that Peter could now call him something that the other students at the school couldn't.

"Jesus Petey, you're beautiful." Tony mumbled, biting a red mark into Peter's skin, pulling it taut between his front two teeth. "Perfect, absolutely perfect."

Peter didn't have a response to that, just let his eyes go half lidded as his cock received a bit of friction and his neck was being basically worshiped. Peter's body felt hyper sensitive, and each time a finger touched his back felt just as good as the first good pump of a hand job.

"I've wanted to do this for so long." Peter mumbled and Tony let out a soft moan underneath him. Peter's hand was tangled in his hair, maybe a little tight, but Tony wasn't complaining.

"How long Petey?" Tony asked and then pulled Peter's shirt all the way off, moving his lips to Peter's shoulder where he sucked a mark and then licked over the spot, the sweet wetness of Tony's tongue trailing over his flesh.

"First day I saw you. You were so  _fucking_ handsome." He admitted and then could feel Tony smiling against his skin.

"You were so cute that day, so shy."

They were drawn from their trance by a doorbell being rung and both of them jumped from the compromising position on the couch, Peter pulling his shirt back on.

"Stay here, I'll pay for it." Tony said, but his movements seemed a little robotic, even as he paid the delivery man and set the box of pizza down on the coffee table in front of the sofa.

"Mr. Stark? Everything okay?" Peter asked, reverting back to the old name, simply because he wasn't thinking about it. He was used to calling him  _Mr. Stark._

"Oh shit." Tony said and looked down at Peter who was still sitting on the couch. "Peter how old are you?" Tony asked, but he knew the answer, just needed to hear it, to have it confirmed before he could overreact.

"Uh 16, 17 next week." He said quickly, furrowing his brows in confusion at the weird way that Tony was acting.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck. Pete I gotta go, this was a terrible idea. I could lose my job, you could lose your scholarship." He fretted, hands running through his hair anxiously.

"But Tony, no one will find out. I promise, I won't tell anyone." Peter tried to reason, standing up so that they were more on even footing.

"I just, I gotta go Pete. I just need to think. I'll talk to you when you get back to school." He said, his skin had turned a pale white color and when Peter reached out to brush the back of his hand over Tony's cheek bone, he was cold.

"Seriously Tony, you don't need to go, I'm sorry for acting like this." Peter apologized, wondering what he could do to get the man to stay.

"No,  _no_ Pete none of this is your fault. Just some time to think, that's all I need. Here take the keys to the car." Tony set them down on the coffee table. "And we'll talk when you get back. I promise."

And with barely a word of goodbye, Tony was out of the apartment.


	6. Civil War

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if the text logs weren't already confusing enough to read, be warned that the team now has two separate group chats, so make sure to look and see which one is speaking. :)  
> -thanks for all birthday wishes!!!  
> -this chapter is just a little sort too  
> -also idk wtf is wrong with me but i've been making T'challa's name in the chats "King T'Challa" like i forgot he was black panther???? I'm going back to fix that idfk how i FORGOT he was black panther  
> -also ur probably gonna get mad in this chapter because... Tony doesn't appear once! ;)  
> -finally, aaaaavengers made a prediction in the comments and i liked it, so the last part of this chapter was inspired by something they said

The car was smooth on the ride back, but Peter was anxious.

Since Mr. Stark had left they'd had no contact with one another, which would be obvious because they didn't have each others numbers, but it made Peter unsettled all the same. The way he'd left, his tone of voice, everything left Peter with a sick feeling in his stomach.

He'd messed up. He'd messed up  _bad._ And he may have ruined everything between him and Tony. Him and Aunt May, Peter could say, were at the forefront of his life at the moment. Erik was on the back burner, just someone that he needed to break up with so that he could be with Tony.

But maybe he couldn't be with Tony, maybe breaking up with Erik would be for nothing and Peter would just be alone.

Left by himself in a car for three hours was a great way to let his thoughts stew in his head, to concoct themselves out of proportion.

Cantu seemed like a dreary place to be compared to Aunt May's bright apartment. She was doing well, the hospital was going to release her in the next few days, and she'd urged Peter to go back to school. He hadn't even been worried about what he'd miss while he was gone, but she'd reminded him that he had other responsibilities than visiting her and sadly eating pizza in his pajamas. He hadn't even visited Ned or Michelle, he'd just sat around and moped.

So, basically Peter was a lovesick wreck.

The front gates were open, it was late in the afternoon on Monday, and as he drove into his parking spot he could see three figures sitting near a few trees off a ways from the parking lot. There weren't a lot of students at Cantu, and Peter could easily pick out his soccer team mates.

He parked the car and then pocketing the keys, not really sure what to do with them. He supposed he should probably give them back to Tony though, so he double checked that the car was locked, leaving his bag in it to retrieve it later, and then walked over to the three figures. It was Bucky and Sam, smoking cigarettes, and Steve looking a little irked, leaning against a tree adjacent to them.

"Hey guys." Peter said, trying not to spook them as he swung around the tree from behind.

They all looked up at him in surprise, Steve spoke first. "Hey Pete, how's you aunt?" He asked as Peter took a seat, forming a bit of a lopsided triangle with the position of their body's,  _more of a rhombus,_ Peter's mind supplied.

"She's good, wasn't hurt too bad. Thankfully." He answered and Steve gave him a sweet smile. Bucky and Sam nodded in acknowledgement as well. Bucky held him out a smoke and Peter shook his head. "Check out my hand, I burnt the other one out on it." Peter said and held his hand up. It was blistered in a perfect circle where he'd burned it. Was obviously going to scar.

"Oh shit Pete, at least we didn't get in trouble though." Bucky said with a bit of a laugh and Peter put his hand in the pocket of his sweats.

"Yeah, what are you guys doing out here. It's five, isn't there practice right now?" He asked, he'd planned to get to school right before practice so he could make it, but obviously it wasn't happening tonight. People didn't just  _skip_ practice. Coulson would probably kill them.

"Oh, uh, about that. Yeah the whole team's kinda fighting right now." Sam filled him in and Peter was pretty sure his eyes just about bugged out of his head.

"The  _whole team?"_ He questioned, mouth basically gaping. This was bad, this was very bad. They were four games into the season, only a 75% winning streak and now the team was on such bad terms that they had temporarily disbanded? This was mega bad.

"Well, we kind of split into two teams." Bucky supplied, rather unhelpfully and Peter furrowed his eyebrows towards him. "See, Sam, TC, Thor, and I all think that Steve should be captain, and the rest of them think that Quill should stay captain." He explained in further detail.

"Dude, Steve, why?" Peter asked, not able to comprehend why they would jeopardize the team for some petty rivalry. Steve had never shown any interest in being captain before, and they'd had damn elections the year before.

"Well, I wasn't really into the idea at first, but Buck got me around to it. I just don't think Quill knows what he was doing. I was captain in junior high, and Quill transferred freshman year so then we couldn't even be on the team. Sophomore year some dick named James was the captain, and then junior year I just kind of forgot about being captain and Quill stepped up. But our winning average went down from two years ago to last year, we've already lost a game this season. I just don't think that he's the best captain we could have." Steve explained and Peter quirked his lips to the side.

Steve being captain made sense, but Quill's track record really wasn't so bad that they needed a new captain, he was doing fine and Peter just didn't really understand where all of this was stemming from. Losing  _one_ game wasn't really new to them, Peter wondered when they'd become such sore losers.

"Yeah, Quill just doesn't know what the fuck he's doing man. Most of us are banking on soccer scholarships for college and if he fucks this up for us then we're screwed." Sam elaborated and Peter cocked his head to one side in thought.

"Couldn't you guys just be like co-captains or something?" Peter supplied, but even as he said it he knew it would never work between the two of them.

"I doubt it, I mean he would just be vetoing everything I said." Steve said with a small shrug.

"Oh hey, let me add you to the new text group." Bucky said and pulled out his phone.

"The Avengers is disbanded?" He asked. It was actually kind of fun to read all of their messages, not that Peter ever chipped in, but they could come up with some ridiculous things.

"Oh yeah, Avengers is basically a war-zone now." Bucky said and Peter's phone bleeped.

**_Bucky_ added you to group:  _Captain America: Civil War_**

"Really guys?  _Civil War?_ " Peter questioned with one raised eyebrow.

"Hey, Quill is the one who made this war alright?" Sam said, but it was more of a ' _shut the fuck up_ ' than an actual statement of fact.

"The situation now is basically just that you've been gone man. Without you we have ten people are we're perfectly split. So you're the tie breaker." Steve explained. Peter had worried they were going to say that after doing the math in his head and realizing that he would have to tip the scales. Peter didn't want to pick sides between his friends. He liked Steve and Quill pretty equally, they stood up for him, always made sure that he was doing okay, and were generally both great guys. There was no way that he could choose between them.

"Uh, I think I'll talk to Coulson before I make my decision." He said, it seemed like the safest answer. Coulson was pretty unbiased when it came to his players, he didn't like anymore more than anyone else. He was surprised that the man wasn't boiling with rage from how stupid everyone was being.

"Well, he's uh, he went on his vacation remember?" Bucky said and suddenly Peter did remember that Coulson had told them he would be gone through Friday this week.  _Well shit, they're gonna eat me alive,_ he thought to himself.

"I need some time to think guys, this is a pretty heavy decision to make. I mean, I like both of you guys. You're basically the same level of players... I just, I need some time to think."

* * *

**Received: Captain America: Civil War 6:32 pm**

> _captain america:_ hey pete, any way we could get your answer by like tomorrow?
> 
> _winter soldier:_ yeah, we kind of want to stop cancelling practices [6:33]
> 
> _spiderman:_ how many practices have you cancelled?! [6:35]
> 
> _falcon:_ all of them since friday [6:36]
> 
> _spiderman:_ shit guys we have a game on saturday! [6:38]
> 
> _winter soldier:_ yeah so we really need you to make a decision [6:40]
> 
> _black panther:_ but only if it's in our favor [6:42]
> 
> _god of thunder:_ honestly you could just stall and make quill look bad [6:45]
> 
> _spiderman:_ i'm not going to make anyone look bad! I'll let you know when i decide [6:47]
> 
> Not a second later Peter got a different notification on his phone, this one from Quill.

**_Quill_ added you to the group:  _Guardians of the Galaxy Volume I_**

**Received: Guardians of the Galaxy Volume I 6:48 pm.**

> _starlord:_ pete, word around town is ur back. meet me on the pitch in twenty
> 
> _spiderman:_ if this is about your STUPID fight with steve i am not coming [6:49]
> 
> _starlord:_ no, no it's about soccer plays [6:51]
> 
> _god of mischief:_ oh it's definitely about the fight [6:52]
> 
> _starlord:_ LOKI R U ON MY SIDE OR NOT? [6:54]
> 
> _god of mischief:_ I never said I was on your side, just that I wasn't on my brothers [6:55]
> 
> _drax the destroyer:_ yeah it's about the fight but you gotta hear our side of the story [6:57]
> 
> _spiderman:_ alright alright, i'll be there [7:00]

**Received: Captain America: Civil War 7:01**

> _falcon:_ so we heard that quill is inviting you to a secret meeting. dont listen to him [7:03]
> 
> _spiderman:_ you guys are taking this way too seriously [7:04]
> 
> _god of thunder:_ i'm just doing this to spite my brother [7:08]
> 
> _winter soldier:_ thor i thought you were on our side? [7:09]
> 
> _god of thunder:_ oh no, loki hates steve. that's the only reason [7:11]
> 
> _captain america:_ yeah, maybe you guys are taking this a little too seriously [7:12]
> 
> _spiderman:_ how did you even hear about the meeting? [7:15]
> 
> _winter soldier:_ oh scott's been leaking us information to 'keep things interesting' [7:17]

Peter decided that no matter who texted him next, he wasn't going to check it, so he headed down to the pitch to hear out Quill's side of the story. It was kind of scary how involved a group of players had gotten in a dumb argument. Peter had seen Quill and Steve share some pretty close moment during matches. He thought that everyone was friends, it made no sense why they would suddenly be so angry at each other.

That fight they had after they lost the game had really escalated exponentially. They had  _won_ two games since then. It didn't make sense why they would be mad now, they must have all just been stewing in their anger about what had happened.

Peter supposed he had noticed that the usual constant banter in their group chat had slowed down considerably before it had stopped altogether earlier that morning, but there was nothing hostile in it, nothing to suggest that they all hated each other now.

It was getting dark around the pitch and Peter was still wearing Tony's stupid flannel, that looked absolutely stellar with his sweat pants. He couldn't be asked to care right now though, he was more worried about the fate of the team than what he was wearing.

Quill, Drax, and Loki were all sitting on the bench, bundled up and waiting for Peter who approached from the side, Loki noticing him first.

"Hey Peter." Loki said and patted the spot next to him lightly with his hand.

"Hey Lokes." He said and took a seat, resting his elbows on his knees and looking over at Quill and Drax, who looked very much like they belonged in a secret society right now with their hoods pulled up and the diminishing sunlight.

"How's your Aunt May Pete?" Quill asked and Peter was struck with just how similar Quill and Steve were. They were both natural born leaders, gifted soccer players, witty, funny, and cared about Pete. Seemingly cared about him a lot.

"She's good, gonna be home soon, thanks." He answered easily and then looked out over the pitch. This was no time to go for a stress run, even if he wanted to. He was going to listen to what they were going to say.

"So I guess I'll just jump right into it. I know Steve talked to you just a little while ago-"

"Wait, how do you guys know what Steve is doing?" Peter asked,  _is there another mole? This is fucking ridiculous._

"Oh Thor texts me everything. For a brother who claims to hate me, he sure does talk a lot." Loki explained passively, waving it off like it was trivial that his brother actually did love him very much. Peter elected not to tell them about how Scott was also ratting on them, didn't want to make any more animosity.

"So yeah, anyway. I guess he told you about how he was captain in middle school? Yeah, complete lie, he was  _co-captain_." Quill said, giving him a roll of his eyes liked he'd just blown the case wide open.

"Okay, well that isn't a complete lie then. Co-captain is still captain." Peter said. He wasn't going to put up with them acting like children. He didn't often get mad at anyone, but right now he was very mad at everyone except for Scott, who obviously wasn't taking this seriously, but everyone else he was furious at. Why the hell would they put everything at stake for petty rivalry.

"Okay so he was basically captain.  _But_ he's never captained a high school team, who's to say he's any good at it? I mean our record last year was 89%, one percent away from making state." Quill said, Peter already knew this of course. It had been a really shitty game when they'd lost their chance at sate last year.

"And out record this year is 75%." Peter pointed out. He wasn't trying to be a contrarian, but he'd tried to be nice with Steve and them, they were just too set in how they wanted this all to end up.

"Yeah but it's only the first semester and we lost  _one game!_ Only one. We lost out fourth game of the season last year, simply getting it out of the way early." Quill explained and Peter sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"You guys are ridiculous." He muttered.

"Ridiculous in a good way or bad?" Quill questioned and Peter could only let out another sigh.

"I'll see you guys tomorrow, it's too late for this shit." He said and got up, walking away before they could stop him.

Walking back towards the dorms he typed out a quick message.

**Sent: The Avengers 7:48 pm.**

> _spiderman:_ practice is on tomorrow, i have a plan
> 
> _starlord:_ thanks petey
> 
> _captain america:_ sounds good pete

* * *

TC was not in their dorm when Peter got back. He'd gone back to the car and then climbed his way up to their dorm and collapsed on the bed. Mentally exhausted from having to deal with overgrown children.

Peter felt his phone buzz  _once again_ and he honestly debated not looking at it, but then he worried it could be May so he pulled his phone out with an exasperated sigh. A picture of him and Erik flashed on the lock screen, he would have to change that.

**Received: Erik. 8:10 pm**

> hey, can i swing by and see u? tc is out with them

Peter thought for a long moment about what to say. He didn't really want to see Erik, didn't want to be roped into doing his homework, and didn't want to do anything silly around him like blurt out he was seeing someone else. Finally, Peter decided that maybe they could just talk for a bit, he could get a feel for how TC was feeling about the relationship.

**Sent: Peter 8:15 pm.**

> yeah, sounds good

He pulled the flannel off and took his shoes off so he was just wearing socks. He wasn't quite ready for bed since it was only eight, but he wanted to relax for a while before he finally fell asleep, maybe do some reading for Barton's class or something. Maybe he would go out and just sit in the car in hopes that Tony might be there.

Erik knocked on the door and Peter called for him to come in. He was laying against the pillows with  _The Great Gatsby_ upside down on his legs. He was wearing a faded tee shirt that he'd gotten from Ned probably five years ago with a picture of Ronaldo on it. He probably looked a mess but Peter didn't really care all that much.

"Hey Petey." He said softly, almost sweetly as he came into the room. They were dressed very similarly but Erik had his hair pulled up on top of his head and still had his shoes on. He took a seat in the desk chair next to Peter's bed. His half of the room was immaculate. TC's was a little messy but no big deal. It was a lot better than Erik's room had been when he'd visited the past summer.

"Hey Erik." He greeted, giving him a small smile. He would placate Erik if it meant they weren't going to fight, he really didn't want to fight right now.

"How's aunt May?" He asked, putting his elbow on the desk and leaning his cheek into his palm. "I would have texted but I didn't want to interrupt any time you were having with her." He explained.

"Oh, she's really good. Just a broken wrist and some ribs. Really dodged a bullet with that one. Thankfully the driver that hit her is able to pay for most of the hospital bills or else she wouldn't have a home to be released to." Peter mused. It had been really good luck that the man had insurance, and as such Aunt May wouldn't be drowning in debt for the rest of her life, she definitely couldn't afford that.

"That's great Petey. I was super worried, next time you see her, tell her I say hi." Erik said and Peter was a bit taken aback by how kind and gentle he was being. Usually Erik didn't really give a shit about Peter's life outside of Cantu, let alone Aunt May.

"She got a phone actually, she's been texting me off the hook." He said with a bit of a laugh and Erik laughed too, his eyes crinkling up and his top lip flattening with his smile.

"I didn't know people that old were allowed to have phones." He joked, which made Peter laugh more.

"Hey, what do you think about all of this stuff with Quill and Steve?" Peter asked once he was done smiling. It had been a long time since he and Erik had a good laugh with one another, Peter had missed it. Things used to be so easy and natural between them, not tense and angry.

"Not sure to be honest. Quill's been a pretty good captain and not to rag on the dude or anything but I kind of hate Steve. I mean, there's a reason we call him Captain America, fucking humble prettyboy." Erik said and rolled his eyes.

Peter raised his eyebrows at the man. "Uh, not to rag on you or anything but I kind of hate you. There's a reason we call you killmonger, fucking egotistical lug." Peter repeated back to him and Erik blinked a few times before cracking another smile.

"Okay, that didn't sound right, but you know what I mean. We've never gotten along, so why would I support his crusade to be the captain. Quill's got the possibility of a full right to  _Cornell_ right now on soccer, I don't want it to get ruined for him." Erik explained.

Peter honestly didn't think he'd ever known Erik to think about someone like that before, to value what would happen to Quill if he wasn't captain. The back of Peter's mind told him that Erik had probably just found a reason to support Quill because he hated Steve so much, it was pretty obvious that he didn't like him. But Erik didn't like most people so it wasn't really a surprise.

"I missed you Pete." Erik said when Peter was quiet for a long moment and Peter looked over to him from where he'd been blankly looking at his comforter and thinking. He flashed Erik a smile.

"Missed you too Erik." He said, and it was true, he missed  _this_ Erik. The one who thought about him and others, the one who was kind and gentle. Not whatever fucking piece of shit he'd turned into in the past year.

Erik reached forward to brush a finger against Peter's cheek bone and Peter stared at him in rapture for a moment. He had Tony now, he couldn't kiss Erik. He shouldn't even let Erik touch him right now, but he couldn't move, was entranced by the feeling of familiar fingers on his skin. Erik's finger trailed downward, brushing over Peters lips and bouncing them a bit as his fingers rolled off. He trailed it over Peter's jaw and then traced the veins of his neck. Erik's finger hooked in the collar of his shirt and pulled it aside slightly to reveal milky skin, and then Erik stopped.

"Peter." Erik said, his tone changing completely and Peter looked down to where Erik's finger was. It had pulled his shirt aside by his shoulder and was now resting on top of a purple and yellow fading hickey that Tony had given him. That hickey had haunted him after Tony had left, and Peter was surprised that he'd forgotten about it for long enough to let Erik find it.

He couldn't say anything, just looked up at Peter with disgust on his face and stood up from his chair. "What the  _fuck_ Peter!?" He yelled, instantly angry and at full volume. Peter stood up too, but wasn't anywhere near as tall as Erik who was quite intimidating right now.

"Erik, I'm so sorry, I don't know what to say." Peter stuttered over his words, trying to come up with an excuse, a reason,  _anything_ he could say to placate Erik and stop the impending barrage of insults and screaming that was going to come at him.

Erik turned towards the door and wrenched it open, not saying anything as he left. Peter followed him out, not wanting to let the man take out his anger elsewhere. Peter had fucked up, that was true, but Erik had fucked up first. Erik had been treating Peter like shit, and to be fair, he and Tony had only kissed.

"Erik, stop, come on let's talk about this." Peter tried to say, but Erik had led them right to the common room and suddenly Peter was angry too. Erik had  _purposefully_ led them to the common room, so that everyone could watch him and Peter argue. So that everyone could have an insight into Peter's private life. Erik  _knew_ that Peter hated sharing his personal life, and so here he was, basically forcing Peter to stand on a stage in front of basically the entire soccer team and a few other random kids.

"Was your aunt even in the fucking hospital peter? Or did you just want to go up to DC to whore yourself around?" Erik accused and the words cut, they just made Peter even more man. Just a few minutes ago they'd been being  _nice_ to each other, Erik had been  _sweet,_ and now he was a fucking monster. Peter couldn't believe Erik would accuse him of something like that.

"Oh that is  _rich_ coming from you." Was all Peter retorted with, but Erik understood the message and Erik was basically shaking with anger.

"Who is is huh? Who's this fucking prick that you're letting dick you down? One of your old friends? Old teachers? Huh Peter? How big of a fucking slut are you?" He ground out and Peter narrowed his eyes at Erik.

"Hey, guys, just calm down for a second." Bucky tried to interject and Erik screamed at him to back off.

"Erik just, yeah, calm down please." Scott said, but was once again screamed at.

"I won't fucking  _shut up_ until Peter tells me why he won't even let me get to second base but has been apparently whoring himself around to every other man. You're always texting other people Peter, how long has this been going on?" Erik demanded.

" _Nothing is going on!_ I text the fucking soccer team, you  _know_ that. You  _know_ me!" He emphasized each word and he could feel the veins in his forehead twitch. Oh he was pissed,  _very_ pissed.

"Okay then explain the  _fucking hickey Peter!_ " Erik shouted and Peter went quiet. He couldn't explain it. There was nothing he could say that would calm Erik down. It was true, he had cheated on Erik, but he didn't think he fucking deserved this.

Erik quieted down for a second too and Peter was distracted by everything going on around him, he didn't even notice the open palm that was coming at his face until he was knocked to the ground with the force of Erik's arm.

Immediately Quill and Steve tackled Erik to the ground, holding him so that he basically couldn't move at all.

"Oh shit Petey." Scott said and knelt down to help Peter to his feet. His lip was bleeding slightly and his face hurt like fucking hell. Erik packed a punch and Peter was  _sure_ he was going to have a black eye.

"Okay you've crossed the fucking line Erik. You ever get within ten feet of Peter again and I'll cut your  _fucking dick off."_ Quill ground out and spat in Erik's face.

"Don't even think about coming to practice tomorrow, we'll make sure Coulson kicks you off the team." Steve warned and then they were letting him up and pushing him harshly out of the common room and towards the dorm rooms. Erik walked away and didn't look back, but his stride said that he was still very pissed off.

"It's fine, I'm fine." Peter assured Scott and got to his feet, wiping the blood with the back of his hand.

"Peter, what  _was_ that?" Quill asked, wincing when he saw Peter's face.

Peter pulled his collar aside and showed them the hickey. "I fucked up, he got angry."

"I don't give a  _shit_ that you were cheating on that douche bag. I mean  _what the fuck was him hitting you?_ Has he ever done that before?" Quill questioned and Steve was standing right next to him, like they were his very ticked off big brothers.

"No, no of course not." Peter gushed out, Erik had never hit him before.

"Pete you can tell us the truth." Steve urged and Peter just shook his head again.

"No I promise, just the yelling." He explained, he didn't want Erik to get in serious trouble, he had never hit Peter before. Peter just wanted him  _out_ of his life.

"Oh Peter." They said, almost in unison and then they were pulling him into a tight bear hug, sandwiching him between the two of them.

When they finally pulled apart everyone else clapped a hand on Peter's back and told them what a fucking douche Erik was.

"We still hate each other, but we care about you a hell of a lot more than some dumb rivalry." Quill said, resting a hand on Peter's shoulder.

"Yeah Pete, we all care about you a lot." Steve reassured and rested his hand on the other shoulder.

"Thanks guys. I just, I just don't want him in my life anymore. Nothing else, just don't want him around me." Peter explained.

"Oh, we can do that." They promised.


	7. Not a Big Deal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As always, thanks for all the support, you guys keep me going. my bff gave me a LOT of ideas for this story so it's not anywhere near over yet. Also sorry about no update yesterday, i took like forty depression naps and then just called it a day, but! I turned in job apps today and wrote this chapter so no big deal but i'm somewhat a functioning adult.  
> -vision is in this story now and i'm giving him the name 'paul bettany' because that's the actor who plays him. also we're assuming he looks like paul too/what he looked like in infinity war.  
> -this chapter is super short but whateve

**Received: Operation Spiderman Homecoming 6:30 am.**

> _starlord:_ can you not go down to breakfast early this morning? we're still worried about erik
> 
> _spiderman:_ i dont think he's gonna bother me again. u guys probably scared him last night [6:32]
> 
> _captain america:_ just don't want to take any chances. let's give it a few days and see how he acts [6:35]
> 
> _spiderman:_ alright [6:37]
> 
> _spiderman:_ hey are you guys still fighting? [6:39]
> 
> _starlord:_ oh yeah absolutely you still have to choose between us [6:41]
> 
> _captain america:_ yeah we're cancelling everyone else's vote and making you the soul decider [6:43]
> 
> _spiderman:_ ugh [6:43]

So Peter hung out in his room for a little while longer, until he was sure that the boys would be down in the cafeteria and would be fine with him leaving his room.

When he got down there he knew he was going to get a lot of stares, because the skin around his eye had turned a lovely shade of purple and yellow. It wasn't super bad, but it was very obvious and not a lot of people got into fights in Cantu.

He took a seat next to Scott at the table they always sat at during lunch. They apparently sat there during breakfast too.

"Dude Pete, Erik fucking sucks." Scott said and there were nods from around the table.

"Yeah, he was an okay player but always kind of an asshole." Quill added.

"I can't believe I'm related to that piece of human garbage." TC said, which was a nice sentiment but wasn't really different from how he usually felt about his brother.

"Thanks guys. It's not that big of a deal though, at least he's now sitting like across the cafe." Peter looked over to where he could see Erik, eating with some old friends of his that weren't from the soccer team. It was kind of telling that he even had friends that weren't from the soccer team, because none of them did. The only friends that the team had was the rest of the team.

"I don't know why you play off your own well being so much Peter." Loki commented, it sounded snide but Peter knew he meant it in the nicest way possible. He ghosted his hand over Loki's shoulder lightly.

"There's no reason for me to worry about it now." Peter rationalized. The bell rang and he dumped his half finished bowl of cereal into the trash can. Steve and Loki accompanied him to Mr. Stark's class. It would be the first time Peter had seen him since they had kissed.

The hallways were busier than Peter was used to since he was always a little early to class and now he was going to be right on time. He was kind of glad though, it wouldn't give Tony any time to mention his black eye, or at least hopefully it wouldn't.

"Do you sit next to Erik in Barton's class?" Steve asked. It was one of the few classes that Peter didn't have with Steve.

"I sit by Scott and Lokes, but Erik sits like diagonal behind me." Peter explained. They were able to choose their own seats, but Peter's best friends had won out over his (ex)boyfriend at the beginning of the year. Even since then things had been weird between them.

"You should ask Barton if he can move Erik." Steve suggested and Peter shook his head.

"I don't want to draw attention to the situation." Peter explained and Steve clapped a hand on Peter's shoulder.

"You were always too good for him Petey." Steve said and they entered Tony's class right as the bell rang. Peter didn't make eye contact as he took a seat in his regular desk. Loki and Steve took their usual seats next to him, but something felt different, like they were closer to him both physically and metaphorically.

He looked up, finally, at Tony who had his full attention focused on Peter. Pete shook his head at him, trying to get him to look away and forget about it, to especially not bring it up in front of the entire class.

"Uh," Tony started and seemed to gather himself, taking in a deep breath before continuing. "Announcements as always..." And then Tony seemed to fall into the lesson, trying quite obviously, to not worry about Peter.

Pete was watching him the whole time, his chin resting in his palm and thinking about how things had gone at the apartment, how they could have, and should have, gone so much better. He wondered what he could do, what he could say to make things better between them. Peter would be 17 next Monday, and even though it would still be illegal, he was sure they could keep things a secret for a year. And Peter was trying his hardest to graduate this year anyway, so it would be perfectly legal for them to have a relationship this time next year-but Peter couldn't wait that long, he  _couldn't._

It wasn't like Tony was just a passing phase that he would forget about next year, no, he wanted to be with Tony so bad that it would be torture to wait a year. Tony was patient, understanding, brilliant, and actually seemed to care about Peter.

Tony was handing back their tests from the other day, face down on everyone's desks. Peter flipped his over slowly and saw '100' scrawled on the top. He looked suspiciously over to Loki who had a 98, and then to Steve who got an 81. Peter looked back over the test and noticed near the bottom of the page, in a handwriting that wasn't his own, there was writing that said: 'Peter, please text me once you get out of class, 573-459-2111.' Peter looked up at Tony who gave him a small, almost unnoticeable smile, and then the bell rang.

* * *

**Sent: Peter 9:10 am.**

> hey it's peter

**Received: Tony 9:13 am.**

> Pete what happened? Who hit you?

**Sent: Peter 9:15 am.**

> its not a big deal dont worry

Peter was holding his phone in his lap during a lecture on the affects of gamma radiation in Mr. Banner's class. He sat in the middle so it wasn't a big deal, he doubted the Mr. Banner would notice him on his phone. He was pretty sure that Tony had a class right now too, so he wondered how the man was responding to him so promptly, or even responding at all.

**Received: Tony 9:20 am.**

> It is a big deal and I'm going to worry. Who hit you?

**Sent: Peter 9:22 am.**

> erik

**Received: Tony 9:25 pm.**

> oh fuck kiddo. can you come to my office during lunch?

**Sent: Peter 9:27 am.**

> yes.

They day dragged by as he got closer to lunch time, and also closer to Barton's class, which he had with Erik. Peter honestly didn't think that Erik was going to say anything to him, or try to approach him, he just didn't want to be anywhere near Erik at the moment.

He just had Calc III and then English after lunch, so he would get to have another class with Tony. He wanted to see Tony, to just curl up in Tony's arms and stay there forever, but he was worried that the man was going to report Erik or something. There was a no violence policy at Cantu, but still Peter didn't really want Erik to get kicked out or anything.

When the bell rang for lunch Peter pulled his book bag over his shoulder and jetted out of the room. He told Thor, the first team mate he saw, that he wouldn't be at lunch today and made his way to Tony's room.

It wouldn't be seen as odd for a student to go to a teachers room during lunch, they could just say he needed extra help or was doing test correction or something. Last year he spent a ton of time in Banner's room working on experiments and no one had questioned what they were doing.

The last few kids were just filtering out Tony's room when he got down there, Scott was exiting as Peter tried to enter.

"Hey Pete, what are you doing?" Scott asked, stopping them just short of the door.

"I, uh, test correction with Mr. Stark." He explained quickly with a small shrug of his shoulders, trying to make it seem more real.

" _You? Test corrections?_ Sucks to be you dude. See you for practice tonight. Coulson got back early or something, so he'll be there too." Scott explained and Peter nodded along.

"Yeah, hopefully we can get all this whacked shit cleared up tonight. We can't miss anymore practices." Peter said with a sigh at how childish they all were. For a group of guys that had such great on field chemistry, they could really use like a bonding retreat or something.

"See ya later Petey, hope you're feeling better." Scott said and Peter shared a smile with him before entering Tony's room. The man was in his attached office so Peter headed right back, knocking softly on the closed door.

"Come in." Tony said and Peter pushed the door open slowly, seeing Tony sitting at his desk, leaned over a pile of assignments that he was working on grading.

"Uh, hey Mr. Stark." Peter said and closed the door behind him, taking a seat in one of the chairs in front of Tony's desk. It was a nice office and it reminded him of Tony. There was a picture on the wall of a young Tony standing next to who appeared to be his parents, another one of him standing next to Ms. Romanov at what appeared to be a party. His desk was cluttered, there were a few random car parts laying around that Peter wondered about how they had gotten in his office.

Tony looked up at him from the papers and unclicked his pen, setting it on the desk next to him and taking in a deep breath, sucking his lips in for a moment and then deflating. "Pete, this is the... It's the first time he's hit you right?" Tony asked.

Peter sighed, figuring that this was going to be the line of questioning, just him doing his teacherly duty to keep violence out of the school. "Yeah, of course. Look I don't want him to get in trouble or anything." Peter emphasized and Tony stood up from his chair, adjusting his tee shirt that was tucked into a nice pair of jeans.

"That's okay, I just... Are you alright kid?" He asked, leaning against the windowsill.

"Of course, I'm fine, I told him I don't want to see him ever again." Peter explained.

"Come here." Tony said and Peter stood up, pushing the chair back in and coming to stand in front of Tony.

"I don't want him fucking  _near_ you ever again." Tony ground out and then he was pulling Peter into a crushing hug, basically squeezing all the air out of his lungs.

Peter was surprised for a moment and then sunk into the hug, feeling his body go limp against Tony. He rested his head against the mans shoulder and Tony rested his chin on top of Peter's head. "He saw the hickey that you gave me." Peter whispered.

Tony clutched him tighter, which Peter hadn't thought was possible, before whispering back: "I'm so sorry Pete. I shouldn't have left any marks, I was being stupid."

"No, no I'm glad you did. I don't want to be with Erik." He responded and felt tears well up in his eyes. He hadn't wanted to cry, didn't even think that he was going to, but here he was tearing up in Tony's office. "I haven't wanted to for a while." He added.

"It's okay Petey, you don't have to." He reassured and rubbed Peter's back soothingly. "You don't have to do anything you don't want to do."

"I want to be with you Tony. Please, don't push me away." He begged, his voice wet, but it wasn't like he was sobbing. Peter didn't cry very often, and if he did it was never around other people.

"I won't kiddo, I won't. I was just worried last Thursday." He explained and they broke the hug finally, Peter looking up at Tony.

He leaned up and pressed their mouths together, glad to be feeling Tony's lips again after he'd briefly thought that he never would again. Tony brought his arms down to wrap around Peter's waist, pulling the boy back up against him.

Peter's mouth moved softly against Tony's, not trying to seek anything more than comfort. One of Tony's hands ran long soothing stroked over his back and the other one gripped his hip. Peter had his arms around Tony's neck, leaning into the kiss with everything he had.

It was passionate but not sexual, soft but not innocent and Peter had never felt more connected to an individual before in his life. It was like Tony knew everything that he needed, and was there to offer it.  _It's like being in a good relationship,_ Peter's mind supplied and he ran his tongue over Tony's lower lip, causing the man to open his mouth, and then there was a whole second dimension to their kiss.

They pulled away for air after at least a few minutes of just kissing and Tony rested his forehead against Peters. "Pete, you know you can't tell anyone about this." He whispered, a little short of breath.

"I know, I wouldn't want to ruin this." He responded and then moved his lips to Tony's neck, kissing down it slowly. He pushed aside Tony's shirt and sucked hard on the exposed skin of his shoulder, biting at it softly and swirling his tongue on the soft skin. When he finally pulled away there was a deep purple mark. "There, now we're even." Peter said and pulled aside his own shirt to show Tony the mark that he'd left.

Tony just grinned at Peter and kissed the top of his head. Lunch would probably be over soon, they didn't really have time for anything else. So Peter just leaned against Tony, resting his head on his shoulder and enjoyed the feeling of being loved.

"Hey Tony?" He asked after a moment, feeling weird that he was breaking the silence, but wanting to ask him a question.

"What's up?" Tony asked, his hand still rubbing against Peter's back.

"So the soccer team split up while I was gone. Like they formed two opposing factions who both want a different captain, it's kind of crazy if I'm being honest. But they want  _me_ to choose who should be captain." Peter gushed it all out. He needed someone new to give him an opinion on this, he wouldn't be able to decide on his own.

"Who do you have to choose between?" He asked, pulling away a bit so he could look at Peter instead of just speaking at him.

"Steve Rogers and Peter Quill." He said, he obviously knew who Steve was, but Peter didn't know if he had Quill in any of his classes.

"Damn." Tony said after a long moment of thinking. "Well, who's the better player?"

"They're almost perfectly tied in that category." Peter explained hopelessly.

"I mean Steve seems academically smarter, but Quill's just more of a leader..." Tony trailed off. "I don't know if I can help you kid. I don't know anything about soccer."

"Yeah, I figured it was going to have to be all my decision." Peter said with a long sigh and disentangled himself from Tony. The clock on the wall warned him that he only had about five more minutes left of lunch, he had Tony's class so he wouldn't have to rush anywhere.

"Sorry Petey, that kind of sucks." Tony said and gave him one last peck on the cheek. "Alright, now I just have to figure out how to now kill Erik next class." He said, his voice going kind of low again.

"Don't do anything you'll regret." Peter warned and leaned up, giving Tony a peck on the lips. "I'm gonna go take a seat. I'll text you tonight?"

"Yes, please do."

* * *

"Okay, I heard there was a disagreement while I was gone. Someone wanna explain it to me?" Coulson asked. They were all sitting on the bench and he was standing menacingly over them.

"Well, half of us think Quill should be captain and half of us think Steve should be captain, but Peter's undecided." Scott filled him in quickly. Peter could see Coulson physically try not to roll his eyes.

"And where's Erik?" He asked next. It had been made very clear to Erik that he was off the team.

"We unanimously decided to kick him off the team because he sucks." Quill supplied.

Coulson looked at Peter's face and then didn't comment, just moved on past it. "Alright, so why the sudden disagreement?"

Both sides of the argument wanted to jump right into it immediately but Coulson shut them up and asked Steve to speak first. "Well, I've been a captain before, a pretty good one. I just don't think that Quill is taking this team in the right direction." He kept it short and sweet.

Quill filled Coulson in next, "guys I've been your captain for a year now, we  _almost_ made state last year, and we're totally going to make it this year. You're used to my coaching style, and you all seemed to like me before this."

Peter thought that both of them had pretty good points, and he was going to have a very hard time trying to choose between the two of them. Although, maybe Coulson would dispel this and leave Peter out of it, that would honestly be better.

"So you're both just having temper tantrums, noted. Alright what are we going to do about being down a player?" Coulson tried to move on.

"Wait, coach, so who's going to be captain?" Bucky asked.

Coulson paused for a moment, lost in thought. "I'm not sure yet, let me think for a moment. Come on, are there any more soccer players in this school?" He asked.

"Uh, there's this guy that just came in this year. He's a junior uh... Paul, yeah Paul Bettany. Said he played at his old school." Loki supplied. Peter had seem Paul around, he was in his calc III class, pretty smart guy and definitely looked like he played soccer. Peter hadn't actually had a conversation with the kid but he seemed nice enough.

"Sounds good, we'll take what we can get. Loki why don't you ask him if he wants to come to practice tomorrow." He said and Loki nodded. "Let's do laps today, how about five? Peter, you stay back I want to talk to you." With a chorus of groans all the players got on the track and started around it. None of them really liked running other than him, Scott, and Sam. Thor and Drax  _sucked_ at running.

Once everyone was out of ear shot Coulson looked down at Peter. "Who do you think should be captain?" He asked and then took a seat next to him on the bench. Coulson was wearing his nice suit, which he usually wore to teach, he taught social sciences classes and rarely changed out of the suit. It kind of made him all the more intimidating, plus he was wearing his usual 'special agent' glasses.

"I, uh, I don't know sir. I've only been on the team for a year, I don't really know if I should choose." He finally decided on saying. He and Loki were basically the only ones who had been on for a year. You had to be a sophomore to join the team so most of the other members had been on for three years now. He really felt like if it came down to it, the decision should be left to someone who knew everyone better, knew how the team functioned and flowed.

"You're a good player Pete, no one dislikes you, I just want your honest opinion. Forget about Steve and Quill, who on this team would make the best captain?" Coulson asked frankly. Peter wanted to interject and say that actually not everyone liked him, but this wasn't really the time. The question left him a little stumped. The best player was T'Challa by a long shot, but the person who called the most plays in the heat of it was Thor, he scored the most goals, Scott had the most sneaky maneuvers, Loki saved the game more times than they could count, Sam could ride someone like nobody's business, and Bucky was a scary defender.

"I mean, I guess T'Challa seems like the best person out of everyone else." TC was smart and good at soccer, basically the same qualifications that Quill had when he'd become the captain.

"Why?" Coulson asked, and the simplicity of the question made Peter reel, trying to think about an acceptable answer, something that would make sense, something that could actually convey a point.

"He, uh, well he's a really good player for one, always has been. He scores a lot of goals, at least half of all the goals we've ever scored. He's super dedicated, I mean I've seen him practice when he was basically dead sick. He's always been trying to keep the team out of conflict, to keep it together. He's been around for a while, and he's smart, I've seen him come up with some pretty risky moves that ended up working out." Peter rattled off, he wasn't exactly able to come up with one really solid reason why, but he figured that giving a few of them wouldn't hurt at all.

"You know who you just described Pete?" Coulson asked and looked over at him, he'd pulled his glasses off and made direct eye contact with Peter. Pete had no idea what Coulson was getting at, he'd obviously just described T'Challa.

"Uh, who sir?" He asked for clarification. For someone taking the most advanced classes he could, Peter could be kind of thick at times.

"You." He said simply and Peter had to gain his bearing from what Coulson meant by saying that.

"You mean... Me? As captain?" He questioned, almost feeling like he was going to fall over. He wasn't a captain, he wasn't a leader, he was the person who did all the work in group projects, hated bossing people around, didn't even liked it when he'd worked a summer at a coffee shop and had to tell people what to do. "I can't do that."

"Yes you can Pete. I watch every game, you know," the joke made Peter laugh slightly, but he was still uneasy. "T'Challa's not the best player. You are. I don't think anyone else realizes just how ridiculous it is that you score as many goals as you do. You play a position that most players in the big leagues don't score goals in for their entire career. Anytime anyone asks me where you're at, I tell them to check the track because you're always working on bettering yourself. A captain isn't a package deal Peter, and we can work on your plays and your leadership, but there's a reason I promoted you to vice captain." Coulson explained and Peter was honestly stunned. He wasn't the best player, he really didn't score that many goals... And... Peter couldn't think of anything else.

"I, uh," he was trying to come up with a reason why he shouldn't be captain but he honestly couldn't. "Ok." He finally said and gave a short nod to Coulson.

When the boys finished their lap Coulson called them over for a huddle. "I made my decision." He said and Peter saw Steve and Quill flash a look between one another.

"Dude Petey whoever you chose, it isn't gonna hurt out friendship." Quill said and Steve gave him a nod as well, both of them obviously still believing that they were the only candidates in the race.

"I didn't choose guys." Peter made sure to butt in, he didn't want them to think that he had suggested himself to Coulson, he would never do that and he hoped they realized that.

"Yeah, I made the decision. Peter Parker is your new captain." Coulson finally said and there was silence throughout the team for a moment.

Scott was the first person to talk, he said: "yeah sounds alright to me."

"Makes sense." Sam said with a shrug.

"Better than you lot." Loki added.

"He's a good player." Thor said.

"Maybe our best." T'Challa answered next.

"You'll be a good captain Pete." Bucky assured.

Steve and Quill shared one more look with one another before finally responding.

"Sounds good." Quill said with a nod at Peter.

"You'll do great, Pete." Steve said and clapped him on the back.


	8. Thoughtfulness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is all over the place because i didn't plan it at all haha. sorry for lack of updates, i've been working 60 hrs a week at my job, but i just quit so hopefully in two weeks i'll be able to start updating once a day again.  
> -also if you were keeping track it's only like four weeks into the school year, but facts don't exist because now it's almost christmas with no time skip  
> -tony's house is based off of his california one that was on the coast and got like blasted into the ocean, just as a reference for what it looks like.  
> -update: this chapter has been revised within two hours of posting. I got mixed up, I was thinking about my very similar walking dead AU so I interchanged Peter's name with 'Carl,' that has been fixed. Sorry.

"Yo Paul! Pass to Rogers!" Peter yelled over the typical sounds of soccer. People cheering, players grunting, the slick noises of the grass. Peter used Steve's last name so that the opposing team would have no idea who he was talking to. They didn't know this team very well, but he didn't want to take any chances.

Steve was surrounded by three lanky players, but Peter figured with the right twist of his body he would be able to shake them. Paul had a clear line with the ball, everyone obviously thinking that they'd covered Peter's players.

Paul shared a quick nod and a wink with him before sharply passing the ball to Steve who ducked away from his guards, contorting his body so that he wouldn't slam into one of them and miss his shot. He skidded in front of the ball and then shot it straight at the goalie who reflexively flinched away from the ball, and Steve scored the goal. Time was called right after that.

"YEAH FUCK YEAH!" Quill basically screamed and clapped Steve on the back. Steve didn't even take the time to correct Steve, just smiled back at him.

"Petey, that is now a one hundred percent winning score." Scott said and slung an easy arm around Peter's shoulders, both of them damp with sweat.

"That's one game Scott." Peter said with a huff and a laugh. They walked off the field together, an easy air around the entire team. They'd won 1-0, which wasn't amazing but it was still a win, and Peter wouldn't deny that he was proud of that fact. It wasn't like he had given exceptional leadership or came up with a whole new strategy, they just played like they usually did, but this time they won.

"Don't play yourself down Pete." Scott warned and Pete just rolled his eyes at him. Scott dropped his arm from around Peter's shoulders as they came up on the locker rooms. "We doing anything for your birthday?" He asked and pulled his shirt off as they entered the room.

Peter thought for a moment, he'd been in and out of forgetting the fact that his birthday was on Monday and it was Saturday. "Naw, probably just hanging out with you guys." He said with a small shrug of his shoulders.

"Okay, first of all Peter, that's fucking lame. Second of all, we are  _definitely_ doing something." Scott said, giving him his best 'mother hen' look, but Scott was about as far from a mother hen as someone could get.

"Fine, fine, we can do whatever you want." Peter agreed and stripped down to shower off. It was hot outside for early December and Peter was pretty sure he'd even gotten a bit of a sunburn.

He didn't really care very much about his birthday, it was just something that would happen. It would make things a little easier for him and Tony, but otherwise not much would change. Aunt May had said she didn't feel well enough to drive down and the boys were really give and take for birthdays. They hadn't done anything special for Bucky's birthday, but last year they'd gone fucking wild on TC's birthday.

"Dude, we can't do whatever  _I_ want on  _your_ birthday. That's just sad." Scott chided and Peter rolled his eyes, stepping out of the shower with a towel slung around his waist and changing into his normal clothes.

"Whatever, surprise me." Peter finally said, balling up his soccer clothes and throwing them in his bad. He wanted to grab his phone, to see if Tony had sent him anything, but it would look suspicious if he just started immediately texting basically in the middle of a conversation.

"Man you hate surprises." Scott reminded and Pater gave him a sly smile and a shrug.

"Why don't we just have a party like usual?" Quill asked, joining into the conversation.

"I'm the only one with a house in town and my parents are  _in_ for the weekend." Scott said. That's where they always had off campus parties.

"We'd need to make the plans quick, can't have a party on Sunday night." Sam interjected and suddenly everyone was talking about the topic of Peter's birthday party, that was now apparently going to be tonight.

"We could do a local party. You know, like the public high school." Bucky suggested. They'd never done that before, gone to a house party of the nearby public highschool. Their soccer team came to their parties sometimes, but never the other way around.

"Does anyone even know any of them?" Quill asked and Peter nodded.

"Yeah, their midfielder, Logan or something. I have his number, I could ask." Peter offered and Scott slapped him on the back.

"See! You  _do_ want to go to a party." Scott exclaimed and Peter wished he could retract what he said.

"Shut up." Peter mumbled and pulled his phone out to shoot a quick text.

**Sent: Peter 7:45 pm.**

> any partys tonight?

**Received: L 7:48 pm.**

> yo, pete? never thought i would hear from you haha. uh wade has something going on tonight, a lot bigger than your guyses usual things

**Sent: Peter 7:50 pm.**

> how big are we talking? (sorry for not texting you)

**Received: L 7:54 pm.**

> i mean, wade is loaded and i think he knows everyone in the world, so it's huge. you want the address?

**Sent: Peter 7:55 pm.**

> ya

The reply back had an address around the same area as Scott's house.

"So looks like for  _my_ birthday we're going to a giant raver." Peter said with an incredulous look on his face.

"Your favorite!" Scott exclaimed and Peter couldn't help but smile. "Dude Petey can we take  _the car?_ " Scott asked after the address had been spread to everyone and rides were being given out.

"What's  _the car_?" Peter echoed as they walked towards the dorms so they could change into more casual clothing.

"You know, the one that you and Mr. Stark have been working on? I totally know you drove it back from Alexandria. You should ask him." Scott basically begged and Peter had to hold back a grimace.

"Scott that's not really a good idea, it's not like it's  _my_ car, I just helped him fix it." Peter tried to explain.

"Oh so you're telling my you  _don't_ have a spare key to it that I totally saw sitting on your desk?" Scott raised his eyebrows at Peter and Peter sighed. Stark would have gone home to his apartment for the weekend and it would be risky to send him a text and risk Scott finding out that he had a teachers number. "Pete come on it's your birthday!"

"Yeah, it's my birthday, so why would I give you a ride in the car?" Peter questioned.

"Because you  _wuv me._ " Scott pleaded with big puppy dog eyes.

Tony  _had_ given him the spare key and told him to use it for emergencies or with him... Peter really didn't want to break the mans rules but he had said it was 'their car' which meant that he should be able to use it.

"Yeah... Alright fine. But if we get even a  _scratch_ on it, you're paying for a fucking mechanic to fix it." Peter warned and Scott nodded.

"Gotcha. Meet you out there in twenty?" Scott asked as they stopped in front of Peter's room.

"Yeah, see ya."

* * *

**Sent: Peter 8:30 pm.**

> hey r u awake?

Peter didn't get a response so he swallowed down the lump in his throat and grabbed the keys on his desk. He was actually wearing jeans for once instead of sweatpants, and paired a relatively nice soccer shirt with it. It wasn't like he had to look nice for a lame party, but it was apparently his birthday celebration.

Scott was down at the car, leaning against it and probably feeling like he was cool as hell. Peter jingled the keys in his hand and Scott fist pumped the air. "Fuck yeah." He said and Peter unlocked the car, sliding into the driver's seat, feeling a little anxious. He'd driven it for three hours on the highway and nothing bad had happened, so he figured he could handle a twenty minute drive through the city.

The car purred to life and Peter gripped and ungripped the steering wheel a few time before shifting into gear and heading out of the open front gates.

"I can't fucking believe you guys rebuilt this thing, like it was  _trashed_ first time I saw it in the parking lot." Scott emphasized and ran his hand over the perfectly clean dash, only thing there was a fine layer of dust. "You and Mr. Stark were hanging out like all the time when you were working on the car."

Peter didn't know how to respond, how could he respond.  _Oh yeah, kind of in a relationship with him actually,_ that wouldn't work out very well. But Scott was very attentive, Peter kind of worried that he might figure it out regardless.

"He just noticed that Erik was being a dick to me and he wanted to give me a way to vent." Peter said, which wasn't a lie.

Scott seemed to accept that answer and decided to fiddle with the radio as Peter drove. He found the house fairly easily and pulled into the spacious driveway. They were a little early so Peter got a front row parking spot, back far enough from the other car that he could pull out, he only hoped the person who parked behind him would be very careful.

The sun was just barely going down as Peter turned the car off and tucked the keys as deep into his pocket as he could get them, triple checking that the car was lock. The house was huge, bigger than Scott's, and most of the other cars in the drive were nice, but none of them were as priceless as the one he'd driven.

The house had a lot of people in it but didn't even look that full because of how huge it was.

"Dude! Peter!" He heard a voice coming from the middle of the room and Pete could see Logan's head over the crowd, making his way over to Peter.

"Hey Logan, what's up man?" He asked, noticing that Wade was trailing just a bit behind Logan the entire time.

"Not much, just got here. You want a drink?" Logan was already offering him a plastic red cup and Peter took it without thinking. He trusted Logan at least far enough to not drug him.

"Yeah, thanks." Peter said and tipped the cup back at his mouth, the liquid was acidic and burned on its way down, but otherwise just tasted like normal alcohol.

"Heard you guys lost a couple of games this season." Logan remarked and the three of them moved off to the side of the room so they weren't in the middle of a throng of people, Peter leaned against a wall while Logan stood close to him, Wade even closer to Logan.

"Yeah, just a couple. I was uh, actually just made captain." Peter didn't want to brag or anything, but they were talking about soccer and they would figure it out sooner or later.

"Dude that's awesome!" Logan exclaimed but Peter felt his phone vibrate in his back pocket so he excused himself to another side of the room. It was loud, but he'd only received a text so Peter was able to respond.

**Received: Tony 9:21 pm.**

> Yeah sorry, had my phone off, what's up kid?

Peter sucked in a breath and bit his lip. He  _could_ respond and lie, he  _should_ tell the truth. He didn't want to lie to Tony, he really didn't, but he also desperately didn't want to have to tell him what had happened.

**Sent: Peter 9:28 pm.**

> i fucked up.

He sent that and then not thirty seconds later realized that it sounded bad and so sent off another one.

> like not bad, i just think you're gonna be mad at me.

**Received: Tony 9:31 pm.**

> What happened? You ok?

**Sent: Peter 9:34 pm.**

> i took the car. and scott pressured me into it and it wasn't an emergency and i totally know that you didn't want me to take it unless it was an emergency i'm so sorry

There was about ten minutes before Tony send a response. Peter was just sitting on one of the couches, curled around his phone and his drink, the people next to him sitting way too close for comfort, but he could make out a group of maybe three of his team mates just across the room, so he didn't worry too much.

**Received: Tony 9:45 pm.**

> where did you take it?

The response was clipped and Peter knew that Tony must be upset, he had every reason to be upset. Peter had made a terrible decision, he should have just gone home before even telling Tony, or better yet, not have take the car at all.

**Sent: Peter 9:48 pm.**

> a party up on norco rd. with the soccer team

**Received: Tony 9:52 pm.**

> Pete I gave you those keys so you could go somewhere if you had to, not to go drunk joyriding with your friends.

**Sent: Peter 9:58 pm.**

> i'm sorry. i'll go back right now.

**Received: Tony 10:01 pm.**

> have you had anything to drink?

**Sent: Peter 10:04 pm.**

> just a little

But the drink was strong and Peter could already feel himself woozy and had a feeling if he stood up he would dizzy himself onto the ground. He'd drunk to fast, hadn't had anything to eat recently.

**Received: Tony 10:08 pm.**

> i'm a block away from norco. what's the address? i'll be there in ten, pick up you and the car

**Sent: Peter 10:11 pm.**

> 1080 norco. i'm sorry

Peter stood up from his spot on the couch and stumbled a bit, his cup was empty, had probably been refilled at some point. He had to find Scott and tell him he was going to leave, but instead he found himself outside, leaning against the car and waiting, checking his phone every three minutes to see when Tony would be there.

The boys would probably just think that he was shacking up for the night with one of the kids from the other school, Peter would let them believe that. He didn't know what kind of lie he could tell Scott anyway. Scott probably wouldn't have let Peter drive like this either.

Exactly ten minutes later Peter saw a figure approaching from the edge of the driveway, as he came into the shine of the garden lights Peter could see it was Tony, carrying his skateboard loosely under one of his arms. He was wearing dirty jeans and a tee shirt that looked old. He hair was messy, he looked like he'd just been working in a shop. Peter waved his arm unenthusiastically at Tony and the man nodded.

Peter slid into the other side of the car, buckling his seat belt as Tony opened the other door and threw his skateboard in the back. If Peter was less anxious, he probably would have smiled at the fact that Tony had  _skateboarded_ to come pick him up.

Tony started the car, his hands gripping the steering wheel tightly. "Tony, I'm really sorry, I wasn't thinking." Peter tried to apologize as they drove to a location that Peter didn't recognize, he distantly wondered if they were going to Tony's place, but he almost didn't want to hope for that.

"No, you weren't." He agreed and then let out a long sigh. "I put a lot of trust in you with this car Peter, and I know it's nice for you to finally have a car, but you have to understand this isn't just  _a car._ Driving this to a house party is like wearing a wedding gown to the grocery store, it's obnoxious, ridiculous, and something bad is bound to happen."

Peter thought on his words for a moment, leaning back into the beautifully redone leather seats. They'd messed up on the upholstery on the bottom so there was a loose seam that would have to be fixed at some point, the cords of the speakers were a mess in the body of the car since they hadn't wanted to deal with it, there was a small dent still on the left side passenger door, 'Peter P' was written in sharpie above the gas pedal, 'Tony S' was scribbled on the side of the engine. It was  _their_ car. Tony even told Peter if he was going to take it out, and Peter hadn't extended the same courtesy to Tony.

"What can I do to make it up to you?" Peter asked, looking over at Tony's silhouette, illuminated by streetlamps as they drove by. The night was brisker than the day, and Peter wondered if they were going to get their first snow tonight. Soccer season was basically over until after Christmas break anyway.

"Just don't do it again, please Peter." Tony answered in return and Peter reached out his hand to hold loosely around Tony's own, flashing him a smile.

"I won't, I promise." He responded and Tony chuckled, Peter wondered what he said that could have made the man laugh.

"Here I am, accepting promises from a drunk kid." He explained and squeezed Peter's hand, taking a right turn and then pulling into a garage as the door slowly opened automatically.

It was less of a garage than a full mechanics work space. There were at least five cars, all in different stages of disrepair, all of them extremely nice, and then just machine upon machine that Peter didn't recognize. Schematics taped up onto the wall, tools  _everywhere,_ and a sofa sitting along the far wall. Tony parked the car in a space that looked built just for it, surrounded on each side by tool shelves and what looked to be spare parts.

"This is your garage?" Peter asked, getting out and feeling that the air was kept at a perfect temperature for preserving cars.

"It's my work area yeah. It's kinda sparse because I just moved in at the beginning of the year." He explained and Peter looked around in wonder at everything around him. He approached another car, looking to be in perfect condition. It was sleek and red with yellow trim. "That's my lambo, basically the only car in here that I didn't rebuild." Tony explained.

"Tell me again why you're working as a freaking math teacher?" Peter questioned and traced his fingers ever so softly against the spoiler of the car.

"I was a depressed alcoholic with some severe ptsd from the war. Think Natasha actually saved my life with this job." He said and leaned against the oldest looking car in the garage that Peter was honestly worried would fall over, but it didn't. It was silent for a moment and Peter wondered if he should respond or if Tony would continue talking, finally Tony continued. "I was basically obnoxiously rich and all I did all day was work on cars, I would sleep in my garage in New York, rarely leave it. I would have food delivered there. Natasha just wanted to get me something to do, and it worked, this is perfect for right now. Next year I'll probably try and find something different, but it's not a big deal. I could live off of royalties pretty comfortably for the rest of my life."

Peter didn't want to lean on anything and risk breaking it, so he just put his hands in his pockets. He was less dizzy now and was standing just fine. "You're not going to teach next year?" He questioned.

"I don't think so. I'm a pretty shitty teacher." He joked.

Peter laughed but shook his head, "you're not a bad teacher at all."

"The student standing in my garage at 10 on a Saturday night should beg to differ." He responded and Peter chuckled.

"Yeah, yeah fair point." He agreed and Tony took a step towards him, Peter took a step as well so that they were standing closer to each other. They weren't toe to toe or anything, just close, comfortable.

"I could give you a ride back to the school, not to the party though. Or, uh, well I guess you could stay here for the night. You can borrow some clothes, I have an extra tooth brush and what not. If you want, no pressure." He rambled out and Peter had to bite back another laugh.

"Of course I want to stay here with you, I haven't gotten the grand tour yet anyway." Peter pointed out and Tony slung an arm around his shoulders, leading him towards the door that connected to the rest of the house. They went up a short flight of stairs and then they were standing in a huge living space, windows covering most of the wall furthest from them.

"JARVIS can you get the lights?" Tony asked to the air and then the lights were coming on, illuminating the perfectly clean room they were in.

"Your house is run by a robot?" Peter questioned, raising his eyebrows and looking up at Tony.

"Not a robot, just an advanced voice recognition software I designed. Not like it can talk back or anything, but who knows, maybe in a few years..." He trailed off and Peter could tell he wasn't joking. Tony was passionate about all things science and mechanical, Peter just hadn't realized that extent of his expertise. Tony didn't really exude an aura of 'smart' he was more confidant and laid back, but from seeing this, Tony might be the smartest man Peter had ever met.

"That's insane." Peter said and walked further into the room. It didn't look very well lived in, the garage looked more cozy than the main part of the house, but Peter appreciated it all the same.

"Not insane, just science." Tony responded cheekily and came up behind Peter, holding him around the waist and pressing a soft kiss to his neck Peter smiled at the feeling of security washing over him as he was held.

"Can it dim the lights?" Peter asked, leaning back into Tony's embrace just a little bit.

"Yeah, go ahead, you ask him." Tony encouraged, Peter recognized that Tony had referred to the AI as a  _he,_ and would mean to ask if there was a significance behind that later.

"Okay, uh... Dim the lights?" He asked into the air, but nothing happened.

"It's kind of like Simon Says, you gotta get his attention first." Tony guided him through it but Peter could barely pay attention because Tony's lips were trailing softly over his neck and up to his ear lobe, taking it between his teeth.

"Yeah, right, uh JARVIS dim the lights, please?" And then the lights went down to about half brightness, basking them in a warm glow instead of a harsh ray. The world felt quiet in Tony's house. There were no noises from outside, no stress, no nothing. It was all just safe and warm, and Tony was with him, Tony could be with him in his house without worrying.

"It's late, do you want to get in bed?" Tony asked and Peter nodded against his shoulder. He followed Tony down a hall to an equally impressive bedroom, this room however had clothing strewn on the ground and a few empty liquor bottles sitting suspiciously close to the bed. Tony pulled open his closet and dug around for a moment before pulling out a pair of flannel pants and handing them to Peter. "Here, you can wear these. You can change in the bathroom-" But Peter was still a little tipsy so he pulled his shirt off plainly in front of Tony before moving down to undo his shoes, kicking them off and then shucking off his pants. His boxers were still in place underneath, it was only when he had the pants on that he realized Tony was staring at him. Peter turned red and looked down away.

"You're so fucking hot." Tony mumbled, mainly to himself, and then went back to his closet to pull out a pair of pants for himself. The same way Peter had done it, Tony pulled his clothing off until he was left in just his underwear, before pulling the pants on.

Peter was left staring at Tony's gently defined chest, his eyes drifted out from the center, ghosting over Tony's muscular shoulders, down around his nipples and the dark hair that covered some of the top of his chest, his stomach wasn't tight but it wasn't fat, it was as lean as Peter would have expected. On Tony's right shoulder, however, there was a knot of scar tissue that Peter raised his hand up to, but Tony caught it. "Uh, sorry." Peter mumbled.

"No it's alright, I just, I forgot to tell you I had that." Tony said and Peter studied it for a moment longer. The skin around it was a silvery color, reflecting off the lighting in the room. It didn't look bad, it looked sexy if anything, and Peter pulled his hand from Tony's grip, continuing forward so that he could run the pad of his thumb along the tissue.

"What's it from?" He asked, taking a step forward and looking up at Tony. They were basically chest to chest to it was an uncomfortable angle, but neither of them would step away.

"A bomb, metal shrapnel. Every doctor told me it was inoperable, yadda yadda, but here I am." Tony explained briefly and Peter could sense that he didn't want to go into detail. Tony traipsed Peter along with him towards the bed and everything they were doing just felt so domestic. It wasn't sexually charged, it was just them being together.

"So how'd they get it out?" Peter asked, sitting up against the pillows of the bed, looking over at Tony who was laying on his side, his head propped up on his hand.

"Finally found the right surgeon. Strange took it out, right before his accident, you know with the hands and everything. I think I was his last patient actually." Tony said. Most kids at the school knew the story of Dr. Strange, the school doctor who used to be a surgeon then had his car accident. The mans hands still shook a bit, but they were steady enough when he needed to use them, just not enough for the surgery he used to do.

"So he saved your life?" Peter asked, darting his hand out again to brush his fingers over the scar.

"I guess, I mean I was onto something that would have kept the shrapnel from getting to my heart. Magnets and arc energy, never got that finished though, and Strange swooped in just in time."

Peter leaned forward and pressed his lips quickly against the scar, just a peck, before sitting back up. "Well, I'm glad you were saved anyway." Peter mused.

They were silent for a long while, Peter eventually shifted down so that he was laying facing Tony, but neither of them felt the urge to get intimate at the moment. Peter was still a little too tipsy to feel comfortable doing much, and Tony just seemed tired.

"Are you going back to stay with May for winter break?" Tony asked and rested his hand on the almost invisible curve of Peter's hip, his hand fitting almost halfway around Peter's body.

Winter break was the week after next and everyone was getting ready for it. They were off for almost three weeks, the 17th through the 3rd. They made up for the long break with extra days at the beginning and end of the year, but no one minded since it was such a nice break. "Yeah, she's gone until Christmas to visit some friends across the country though." Peter said and moved his hand to rest over Tony's.

"Do you want me to spend part of it with you then?" Tony asked and Peter thought that today must be a dream, because everything had been going so perfectly. He'd never expected Tony to ask him something like that, but now that he thought about it, it would be perfect.

"That sounds awesome. Would we spend it here?" Peter questioned, referring to Tony's mansion.

"No, this place sucks. I like your apartment much more, if that's okay?" He questioned and Peter almost started laughing, there was  _no way_ his apartment was better than this place.

"That sounds perfect." He agreed, and not twenty minutes later, both of them were asleep.

* * *

**Received: Tony 3:45 pm.**

> your birthday present is in the parking lot.

**Sent: Peter 3:50 pm.**

> I told you not to get me anything!

**Received: Tony 3:52 pm.**

> I may have gotten this for you before you told me that :)

**Sent: Peter 3:55 pm.**

> alright. thank you tony.

Peter was on his way to the soccer field, so he turned around and headed back. He wondered what could be in the parking lot, maybe it was a package in Tony's truck, he'd stopped bringing the Toyota to school. Tony had said it wasn't because of what Peter had done, that they simply didn't need it at school anymore, but Peter had a small feeling that it was about him.

The parking lot was mostly empty except for the cars he recognized. He walked towards Tony's black truck and saw a car that he didn't recognize next to it. It was blue, pretty but nondescript and very new looking. There was a note under the windshield wiper that said 'PETER' in messy letters. Peter picked the note up and pulled it open.

_Pete,_

_So I know you're probably going to be upset about this gift, but I really wanted you to have a car. You need a way to get home, and to get places (like parties) without taking the Toyota. And don't worry, I didn't go out of my way or spend a ridiculous amount of money, someone owed me a favor and I got this car out of it._

_I hope you like it Petey, I know how important May is to you, and now you can see her on the weekends if you need/want to. Maybe you can even drive me up to Alexandria in it for winter break._

_Yours,_

_Tony._

And Peter wanted to rant and rave about how ridiculous the man was, about how this present was completely unacceptable, that he could not take it, but he knew he would never get through to Tony. The man had wanted to give him this car, and so now it was Peter's, and he couldn't help but smile, just a little, about the thoughtfullness of Tony Stark.


	9. Shut Up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ooof this took me forever. But only one more week at my shitty, shitty job, and then tons of updates!  
> -also just a fun note 'screamin eagle' coffee, which is mentioned in here, is real coffee and it tastes like fucking shit. it's like pure espresso but gas station style. it's my brothers favorite coffee :')  
> -also i feel like this chapter shouldn't have all taken place over one day but ooof, it happened.   
> -ALSO just to keep yo hopes up, Ned and Michelle are defo gonna be in the next chapter.  
> \- I SUCK at writing smut so i hope u can fucking deal with the cringefest at the end of the chapter.

"You just gonna spend the whole thing at your aunts?" Scott asked, watching Peter as he tried to get everything packed up. It was the 16th, a Saturday, and Pete would be out of school until the 3rd of January. It was cold outside, snowing, so he was wearing Tony's worn flannel shirt with a pair of sweats.

"Yeah I think so. Have some friends I want to see there and such." Peter explained, throwing his phone charger in his suitcase and zipping it up, his car keys were in his free hand.

"Dude I still can't believe how you got that freaking car, that's some luck man." Scott emphasized and grabbed his own bag as they started to head out of the building. The lie that Peter and Tony had come up with was that Peter's parents had left it to him in a will, to be released when he turned seventeen. It was far-fetched but it was better than telling the truth.

"Pretty crazy, not as cool as your car though." Peter would drive to Tony's house to get the man, who would be staying until the 23rd. He felt kind of weird going behind May's back by having Tony stay while she wasn't there... But he doubted she would figure it out, and he  _really_ wanted Tony to stay. He still couldn't believe the man would give up his luxury house for a a week to stay at Peter's dumpy apartment.

Peter had wondered, briefly, what things would be like living together for a week. They would obviously share a bed, but Peter worried that Tony might want... More. He'd seemed content to fall asleep with Peter those few days ago at his house, but Peter wasn't sure if Tony would always be content to do just that. It wasn't that Peter didn't want to be with Tony sexually, it was just that he wasn't sure how much he was ready for.

"You going back to your house?" Peter asked, they were outside now and it was biting cold. Peter popped the collar on his flannel and wished that he hadn't packed away his winter coat.

"Probably for some of it, don't want to spend the whole time cramped up in there. Glad it's close at least because the heater's busted in my car again." Scott complained and Peter rolled his eyes.

"I swear, if I didn't know better, I would say you're trying to break that car. See you later Scott." Peter said good bye and Scott pulled him into a quick hug.

"Hey Pete, before you go, Erik hasn't given you any trouble has he?" Scott and Pete both pulled away from the hug and Peter crossed his arms over his chest, rocking back and forth on his heals to create a little bit of warmth.

"Uh, no, he hasn't even really spoken to me. T'Challa said he's embarrassed about how he acted, which I get I guess, I mean he didn't used to be that way." Peter answered with a shrug. He was pretty glad that his strained relationship with Erik hadn't ruined things between him and TC, it would be an awkward year as roommates if TC was distant towards him.

"He better keep it that way." Scott clapped a hand on Peter's shoulder and flashed him a smile before walking towards his own car and getting in.

Peter slipped into his Camry, turning it on and blasting the hot air. He hadn't had a chance to drive the car before this and he was excited to see how it handled. It was plain and standard, but Tony understood that Peter didn't want a flashy car, even driving around their car was a little too much.

He'd of course ranted at the man for getting him a fucking  _car_ for his birthday, since that was incredibly extra of him, but Tony had just smiled and kissed Peter, and then Peter remembered that this was  _Tony._ Of course he got him a fucking  _car._

**Sent: Peter 4:09 pm.**

omw

**Received: Tony 4:11 pm.**

:)

* * *

"So are we like dating or what?" Peter asked, about halfway through the drive to Alexandria, some  _The Doors_ song was playing in the background, Peter didn't know it, Tony chose the music. It was a serious question, but Tony almost sputtered through his laughter and Peter flashed him a confused look. "What?"

"You're such a seventeen year old, honestly." Tony said, still chuckling a bit, before composing himself. "Yeah I would assume we're  _dating_." Tony emphasize the word again but giggled a little bit and Peter play smacked his chest.

"Why are you into me? I mean, I'm like eight and you're like hot and cool." Peter had absolutely no idea where he was going with this conversation, it was just, for some reason he really wanted to talk about their relationship and could not figure out a non-idiotic way to do it.

"Okay, first of all  _gross,_ you're not eight. Second of all,  _you're_ hot and cool." Tony moved his hand over to rest it on Peter's leg while he drove which sent a shiver down Peter's spine. "Anymore weird questions for me?"

"Yeah, actually," Peter said immediately and Tony scoffed, squeezing Peter's leg a little to show that he was just kidding and he didn't actually care. "You've had sex before, okay, wait,  _obviously,_ you're like forty. You've been with a  _dude_ before?" He reiterated his question and refused to blush. He honestly wanted to know, Peter didn't really think it was an invasion of privacy or anything.

"Where's all this coming from Pete?" He asked, but when Peter glanced over from the road he could see that Tony's eyes were crinkled from his subtle smile. "Yeah, I've done it all." He finally answered and Peter quirked his lips to the side.

"So you like sex?" Peter asked bluntly, not looking over at Tony in fear that he would turn bright red.

"I guess, yeah." Tony was obviously confused at just what Peter was getting at, but seemed to be playing along for now.

"So would you... Would you be upset if I didn't want to have sex right away?" Peter rambled out, focusing on the road once again. He was worried since Tony was more experienced that maybe he would want to move fast with Peter, but Pete didn't want to do that. He didn't want to take things painfully slowly, but his virginity was kind of a big deal to him.

"No, God Peter, I wouldn't be mad at all. I'm not with you just to have sex with you." Tony cleared up and Peter let out a sigh, leaning a little further into his seat. Peter rested his hand on top of Tony's on his thigh.

"Sorry." Peter mumbled.

"Don't worry about stuff like this Petey. I care about you kiddo, not gonna throw that away for nothing."

Peter accepted the response and the two sat in silence for a long while, the cities blurring together as they drove. Tony's hand remained resting on Peter's thigh and Peter liked the weight and heat of it against his sweats. The snow was coming down harder as they drove.

Coming through a small town Peter noticed that he was running low on gas so he pulled off to the nearest station.

It only had one pump and a convenience store that looked kind of shady, so Peter popped his collar back up and grabbed the last bit of cash that he head to get some gas. "You want anything to drink?" Peter asked.

"Yeah I'll take something caffeinated. Don't worry about gas I'll pay for it." Tony assured and got out of the car himself.

"Seriously Tony, I have enough for gas." Peter protested and Tony simply waved a hand.

"You get the drinks kid, save the rest for the awesome Christmas present you're getting me." Tony joked and Peter rolled his eyes but agreed, running into the shop.

The store owner was nice enough and told Peter he'd better bundle up a little more, before he ran back out to the car, a coke for himself and a cup of coffee for Tony who was sitting in the car again, finished pumping gas. The car got really good mileage, for which Peter was glad. The Toyota did horrible on the drive from Alexandria to Richmond, and he'd really relied on the gas money Tony had left him.

Peter started the car back up and pulled away from the gas station as Tony took a sip of his coffee. "Jesus, what is this?" He asked, looking confused by the taste but still taking another sip.

"Most caffeinated thing I could find.  _Screaming Eagle."_ Peter had to laugh at the name of it. "Came with a caffeine warning and everything."

Tony raised his eyebrows and looked back down at the cup, but took another sip nonetheless. "You graduating this year kid?" He asked, making small talk as Peter drove. It wasn't snowing enough to make the roads unsafe, just so much that it was annoying.

"Uh, yeah. Yep, last year in high school." Peter was actually pretty excited about not having to stick around for another year, he would miss his friends, but most of them were leaving anyway. It was really just Loki, TC, and Bucky who wouldn't be graduating this year.

"You turn in your applications?" He questioned and Peter nodded, taking a sip of his soda.

"Yeah, of course. Should hear back in late March." Peter had turned in about five applications, he and May had had to budget for that one since some of them were pretty expensive.

"Where'd you turn them in to?" Tony rested his hand back on Peter's thigh easily, like it belonged there.

"A few crazy places and then Alexandria Community, think I'm just going to stick close to home." Peter explained. He didn't want to leave May alone, and they also didn't have the money for Peter to be dropping nearly 400 grand on an ivy league school.

"Peter you're not going to community college." Is all Tony had to offer up in response. Peter had expected that.

"I don't want to leave May alone for any longer, ya know she's getting kind of old, she shouldn't be alone. And we just don't have anywhere near the funds to even begin to get it covered. Even if I applied for every scholarship, it would be ridiculous." He explained quickly. He had his reasons, and he knew that Tony was going to try and convince him out of it.

"Alright, first of all Peter, your job isn't taking care of Aunt May. I think she'd be pretty pissed if she learned you passed up an opportunity just so that you could babysit her. Second of all, you understand I can help you out a  _lot_ when it comes to college, right?" Tony finally looked over at Peter and squeezed his thigh in a reassuring manner.

"Tony you're  _not_ paying for my college. You already bought me a car, anything else would just be absolutely ridiculous." Peter ranted, he absolutely wouldn't accept any more monetary help from Tony.

"Never said I was paying for it. You applied to MIT right?" He questioned.

"Yeah, of course." Peter didn't know where this was going, but he figured he'd play along for a moment at least.

"I'm an alum, a pretty famous one in the world of engineering. I could put in more than a few good words for you. I'm not saying I could get you a full-ride, but if you work your ass off on scholarships, and I know you will, I think you could be looking at something easily affordable." Tony laid it all out in front of him and Peter furrowed his brows in thought.

"You'd do that for me?" He asked, tentatively, timidly.

"Pete I'd do anything for you." Tony reassured. They'd barely known each other three months and already Tony was promising so much of himself. Peter didn't know how he'd ever repay him.

"Thanks Tony." He left the conversation at that, but picked up a new topic a few minutes later. "You're not teaching next year, right?"

"Nope, I'm definitely done with teaching." He answered quickly, exasperation clear in his voice. Tony was obviously smart enough to be a teacher, but he had a hard time explaining things to kids who just didn't get it, he really couldn't dumb things down.

"What are you gonna do then?" Peter had wondered about that, wondered if maybe Tony could just live off of his savings or something, but Peter figured he would be bored doing that. Peter didn't  _really_ know how much money Tony had, just that it was a lot.

"I've been trying to put some stuff together for a company. Same kind of stuff I did with the military but no more weapons. Advanced messaging systems, work with renewable energy, you know, just something where I can put myself to work." Tony rambled off about what he planned on doing with the company for a little while, naming specific projects, locations, it seemed to Peter that Tony was pretty much ready to open up.

"How is it that I've  _never_ heard of Stark before? I mean, you say you were making all these weapons..." Peter didn't think that Tony was lying, not at all, he just wondered how it was possible.

"Well you figure the peak points of my career you were probably in elementary school. I was the same age you are now, when you were born, I did a lot when you probably wouldn't have been interested in things like 'who's making all those bombs or designing drones.' Hell, I was never interested in that stuff until they offered me a shit ton of money." Tony said with a shrug of his shoulders. It made sense, Peter never had been really interested in the military so he wouldn't have been researching or following it as a kid.

"And you quit because of an incident?" Peter remembered that Tony hadn't wanted to share that information earlier on, so he wondered if maybe now Tony would talk about it.

"Yeah, and a few other things. It's all fun and games seeing your last name printed on a bomb, until you realize that bomb's killing kids." He explained, deflecting from the actual question that Peter had asked, he wouldn't press the issue. Tony changed the subject, trying to lighten the mood. "Hey you could probably pay for college working as an extremely part time assistant to me." Tony offered, but Peter could tell he was joking, and was  _glad_ he was joking.

"Oooof, not really looking for a sugar daddy, thanks though." Peter joked back and flashed a grin at Tony. It would be absolutely insane if he was making enough money as a part-time assistant to pay for MIT, kind of corrupt too, but at least Peter knew he was joking.

"Aww, but I wanna be your sugar daddy." Tony leaned over to peck Peter's temple lightly.

Peter shot and hand out to playfully slap Tony in the chest. "Shut up."

* * *

"Okay, we got Chinese is in the fridge, heater is on, house looks good..." Peter trailed off, pacing slightly as he looked around, making sure that he'd done everything he was supposed to when he got there. Aunt May had left the day before so she'd turned the heating off and such. Tony was sitting on the couch, absentmindedly flipping through a book he'd gotten from one of the shelves, based off of the cover, it was some weird, racy old lady romance novel, Peter wouldn't comment on that.

"It think we're good Petey." Tony responded and Peter quirked his lips before taking a seat on the couch next to Tony. He felt kind of weird keeping it a secret from aunt May that he was having someone over... But they would get away with it, he was  _sure._ Unless their nosy neighbor decided to drop by... But Peter was  _sure_ they would get away with it.

"Oh shit." Peter noticed that one of the lights near the dining room table was out. "Guess I'll fix that." He mumbled and got up.

"Careful." Tony said after him, but seemed a little more into the book than he probably should have been.

Peter grabbed the step ladder from the hall closet along with a replacement bulb that he set on the table. He climbed up the ladder and touched the light softly, making sure that it was cool to the touch before unscrewing it. He was pretty sure they had a replacement in the closet, but if not the light wasn't that crucial.

Thinking a little bit too much about replacement light, and not enough about the fragile bulb in his hand, Peter fumbled it going down the ladder and the light bulb shattered over the ground. Of-fucking-course." He muttered to himself with an eye roll. Luckily they had hard wood so he wouldn't be picking through the carpet to find shards of it.

"Hey Tony," he called towards the couch, "can you bring me my shoes?" He wasn't wearing them and the floor was basically covered with glass shards that he didn't really want to step on. "Tony?" He called again when he didn't receive an answer. Peter looked over to Tony and furrowed his brows in confusion. Tony didn't look  _weird,_ but he didn't look quite right either. He was tense, his eyes staring at the book pages but obviously not moving, and his hands were clenched way too tight around the pages to be normal, the veins in his neck were standing to attention. "Tony!" He yelled out again, but nothing, Tony didn't even flinch.

Peter very carefully got off the ladder, making sure to perfectly step around the broken glass as he walked towards the couch and the seemingly catatonic Tony. Peter rested his hand on Tony's shoulder but the man didn't move, just blinked very slowly.

"Say something." Peter told him, but it didn't seem to help the situation. Peter tried to rack his brain of anything that could have caused what was happening.  _The light went out... I dropped it... I asked him for help..._ Dropped it, that must have been it. Peter's brain rapidly associated words and ideas that Tony had shared with him.

_Incident._

_Metal Shrapnel._

_Bomb._

The fucking shattering glass much have set Tony off. Peter didn't really have any idea what to do. His mind raced as he tried to think about every incident of PTSD that he'd witnessed in movies, and how it was dealt with. Usually they were reliving the traumatic experience in their mind so...  _Just remind him where he is?_ Peter thought weakly to himself and figured it was worth a shot. He knelt in front of Tony and pulled the book out of his grasp, claiming Tony's hands in his own. Tony didn't even seem to notice the book was gone, his eyes were so glazed over.

"Tony, hey you're with me right now, I'm so sorry, it was just a light Tony. I dropped it, see," Peter motioned to where the light fragments were on the ground. "Just a light bulb and me being clumsy." Peter noticed that Tony showed almost no different. "Here, I'll clean it up so you don't even have to think about it." Peter promised and stood up, putting his shoes on and grabbing the broom, very hastily and tossing it all into the garbage can. He put the step stool away so that everything looked as it had before the light had broken.

Sitting next to Tony on the couch, Peter rested both hands on one of Tony's thighs, trying to make him feel and understand where he was. "Tony, look, I cleaned it all up. Nothing even happened." Peter explained, and after a long few moments Tony seemed to shake himself out of his daze, pushing a hand through his hair and letting out a deep sigh.

"Fuck." Tony mumbled and rested his head in his hands. Peter moved one of his hands to softly rub against his back.

"Are you okay Tony?" Peter asked quietly, not wanting to intrude if the man needed a moment to himself.

"Yeah, fuck, I'm sorry kid. I should have told you that happens sometimes." Tony mumbled, mainly to himself Peter thought, but he kept his touch on Tony constant and let him say whatever he needed to. "Literally any fucking time there's a loud noise or something shattering. Pretty pathetic honestly." Tony sighed.

"Hey, no it's not. Nothing about you is pathetic Tony." Peter made sure to interject and Tony's hand moved to cover Peter's, rubbing it slightly with the pad of his thumb. "If it happens often, did I deal with it right? Is there anything more I can do for you?" Peter asked, wanting to make sure that if it ever happened again he wouldn't be so useless.

"No, no, that was perfect. I just get stuck in my own head. Just remembering it over and over." He explained and rubbed his temple one last time before finally sitting back and taking a few deep breaths.

"Is it... That incident that happened, why you have your scar?" Peter prodded, he wouldn't make Tony give up any information he didn't want to, Peter just genuinely wondered if that's what it was about.

"Yeah, it was a bomb and... And I don't really want to talk about it right now. Sorry Pete, I owe it to you to tell you but I just can't." Peter squeezed Tony's leg and nodded.

"You don't have to tell me, you don't ever have to tell me if you don't want to." Peter reassured and Tony leaned over to give him a quick peck on the forehead.

Tony just held his hand for a little while before seemingly getting a little impatient and standing up. "I have to work off some energy. I think I'm gonna walk to a store and get a twelve pack." He explained and Peter stood up as well.

"I'll go with you." He offered.

"Can't they refuse to sell to me if I'm with a minor?" Tony questioned, and he was right, but Peter had it covered.

He fished his wallet out of the pocket of his jeans and flashed his ID to Tony. "Birthday present from Quill and Scott." The ID had a fake name and listened Peter as being 22, and was pretty expertly done.

"Peter that's illegal." Tony said and for a moment Peter thought that Tony was actually upset, but then he continued. "But I was way worse. Remind me to show you my  _collection_ of fraudulent identifications. I'm especially proud of the fake DEA badge." Tony said as they both put their coats on, Peter grabbing his keys before they headed out, Tony slung an easy arm over Peter's shoulders.

" _Why_ did you need a fake DEA badge?" Peter asked, but wasn't entirely sure if he wanted to know the answer.

"To be fair, I didn't use it for anything bad, just to scare some nobody's at college into thinking I was a secret agent." Tony explained.

"Okay, yeah, you had  _way_ too much free time in college." Peter answered and shook his head as they walked towards the convenience store on the corner.

They bought the beers and then headed back. Peter was glad that it wasn't snowing anymore, he could do  _without_ and white Christmas this year. It would make the soccer season so much easier to slide into if they weren't having to run drills in the tiny gym.

"So do I get one?" Peter asked when they finally got back and Tony had cracked one open.

Tony looked from the beers to Peter for a long while before holding one out to him. "I suppose it's far from the most illegal thing I've done with you." He responded and Peter cracked it open, taking a long sip.

They found themselves on the couch again and sometime between drinking beers and telling each other non sequitur anecdotes they were kissing. Just brushes of their lips against one another as they tried to finish their stories, but ended up putting their beers on the ground and their stories on hold.

"Why don't you sit in my lap." Tony suggested, his voice warm and bright in Peter's ear and Peter shifted himself so that he was straddling Tony's lap and Tony's hands were gripping his ass just right.

Peter was able to press against Tony better this way, able to get closer to him in every way.

"This is kinda kinky actually." Tony remarked, one hand still on Peter's ass and the other cupping the small of his back.

"You suggested it weirdo." Peter remarked, but they both liked how they were positioned so stay that way.

Tony pushed up Peter's shirt and got it over his head so that he could lavish his chest in kisses and marks. The ones on his shoulder had faded away so now Tony was leaving new ones, to reaffirm their connection to one another.

Peter let out a few soft moans, feeling his cock hardening in his pants. He pressed himself up against Tony who he could feel was also hard, but they weren't rushed and they weren't looking to get off so Tony just continued kissing Peter, his teeth edging around his nipple before finally taking the hardened nub between his teeth. Peter let out a gasp and pushed harder into Tony, rutting his cock very minutely against Tony's stomach. He was sitting on his knees now so that Tony could have better access.

Tony's hands moved to Peter's ass and pressed the boys hips closer to his chest so that Peter's cock would rub against Tony's shirt. The friction made Peter's eyes roll to the back of his head and a grunt that sounded a little like 'tony' rolled from his mouth.

"You wanna cum baby?" Tony asked, and though the phrasing was lewd and provocative, Peter understood that Tony was asking for his consent, making sure that Peter was okay with this after the conversation they'd had in the car.

Peter nodded, his cheeks flush with arousal and worked to pull Tony's shirt over his head, and then with little thought Peter pushed down his sweats to below his cock so that it was now pressed skin-to-skin against Tony's chest and Peter let out a shiver at the contact.

"Oh fuck Petey." Tony mumbled. Peter sank back down so that he wasn't standing on his knees anymore and so that he and Tony were at the same height. He used deft fingers to undo the button on Tony's jeans, looking up to receive a reaffirming nod that told Peter this was okay. He pulled Tony's erection from the slit in his boxers and his now open jeans and pressed their cocks together.

He'd done this with Erik before, which he didn't want to think about in the moment, but at least it wasn't entirely new territory for him.

He tried to kiss Tony again but they couldn't coordinate it and so just rested their lips close together, focusing more on shallowly thrusting their hips than making out. Tony wrapped one of his large hands around both him and Peter and Peter could feel every callous and groove of Tony's hand as he fucked up into it, Tony's cock right along with his.

It was more hot, more intense than anything he'd ever done before and Peter could feel himself rapidly coming to a finish. Just a few more strokes and then he was biting his lower lips and coming in low spurts over Tony's hand.

Tony groaned at the sight and moved his hand faster, coming fairly soon after Peter had.

"God you're fucking hot." Tony muttered, reminiscent to something he'd said after their first kiss, also on this couch.

Peter decided to milk it for all it was worth and gather up a bit of cum on the tip of his finger, not being able to differentiate between his and Tony's, and then brought it up to his mouth, cleaning his finger off with exaggerated motions of his tongue. Peter had never tried semen before, but he found that he didn't mind the taste. It wasn't exactly amazing, but it wasn't unpleasant either.

Tony buried his face in the crook up Peter's neck and bit softly in a claiming gesture that almost made Peter feel like he was going to get hard again, but his still sensitive cock wasn't going to go up for another little while.

"We should probably get cleaned up." Peter said after they sat for a few moments, catching their breath before Peter finally got up, pulling his sweats back up and grabbing a wet rag from the kitchen, wiping up all the mess they had made.

"You were okay with that, right Petey?" Tony asked after he was finally tucked back into his jeans and resituated.

"Of course I was. That was amazing. It's just... Like  _real_ sex that I'm not ready for." He explained and took a seat on the couch next to Tony, curling up against his side. Tony put an arm around Peter and pulled him up close.

"Well that was pretty fucking amazing, and remember, we'll never do anything you don't want." Tony said, pressing a butterfly kiss to the top of Peter's hair.

"I trust you Tony." Peter made sure to say.

"Probably a bad idea, but good for me." Tony joked and Peter smacked him in the chest.

"Shut up, don't ruin the moment."

And Tony gave Peter one more peck on the lips.


	10. Jokes On You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can promise you that this fic is not running dry! There's a bunch of things set to happen in the second school semester... Including the addition of a certain character that everyone hates :)  
> also, small party since it's chapter ~10~! double digits

"I'm in an inappropriate relationship with my math teacher." Peter rushed out, not giving much thought to what he was saying, just impulsively putting it out there.

They were four days into winter break now, just five away from Christmas, and three away from Tony leaving. Tony had taken an important call about three hours ago that had turned into him sitting in front of his computer, frantically writing things down on a piece of paper, and mostly listening to the voice on the other end. After about an hour and a half of Peter trying to entertain himself, very quietly, and without Tony, Peter had decided to make other plans.

He'd texted Michelle and Ned, his old friends from public school who had been keen for a meet-up. Pete saw them a ton over the summer, but he wasn't sure if they were going to get together over winter or not. He'd slipped Tony a note that said ' _going out with friends. taking the car. see ya later :)_ ' and Tony had given him a chaotic, but genuine smile and a nod.

"You're in a what now?" Michelle asked, leaning over her coffee and speaking in barely above a whisper. Peter wasn't worried about people over-hearing him. They were in the back section of a local coffee shop that had been almost completely empty when they entered. Still though, Michelle probably had a point, so Peter lowered his voice as well.

"I'm dating my math teacher." He reiterated and Michelle leaned back. Ned was just kind of staring open mouthed at Peter, his hand gripping what was probably way too hot of a coffee.

His friends were both silent for a moment. Michelle looked wrapped up in her own thoughts and Ned just still looked shocked out of his pants.

"We can just move on and you can forget I ever said anything." Peter tried to remedy the conversation. They'd previously been talking about AP scored when Peter had just kind of abruptly segued the conversation. He wasn't even sure why he brought it up, it was just that he needed to get it off his chest, he needed to tell  _someone._

Scott seemed like an obvious choice, but he could get a little loose-lipped when he was drunk. Loki would be another option, but Peter wasn't really sure if he would be able to  _emotionally_ connect with Loki. Telling Loki would just be telling someone for the sake of telling them, plus Loki was known to back stab when it was advantageous to him.

"No... No. Can you like, explain more?" Ned finally asked after quite a bit of awkward silence.

"I just, well, we just, sort of starting making out one day? And then now he's spending part of winter break at the apartment." Peter realized that he was just making a lot more questions through his explanation, Michelle picked up on one first.

"Wait, you're saying May is  _cool_ with this?" She asked, screwing her eyebrows up together.

"No, no, no, she's in out of the state with some old lady friends. Tony's gonna be out of the place by the time she gets back." Peter rambled off and took another anxious sip of his black coffee.

"So you're dating a sixty year old and sneaking around behind everyone's backs? Pete you  _realize_ how illegal this is, right?" Michelle questioned, leaning over the table again, but this time as a slightly intimidating gesture.

"First of all, he's only thirty-five, second, yeah Michelle we  _both_ understand the implications. We uh, I mean, I'm graduating this year and Tony's not teaching after this year... So..." Peter trailed off, not exactly sure what he was arguing, or even if he was trying to prove a point.

"So what Peter? You really think you're gonna have a future with this guy? You think he's not just fucking you because you're young a cute? Peter there's some seriously weird undertones to all of this. Someone's gonna get hurt, and I'm not saying it's gonna be you, but it's  _definitely_ gonna be you." Michelle spat off in rapid fire, sounding very impassioned at the moment. It wasn't often that Michelle got worked up over something, but apparently this was enough.

"I mean... He seems to want a future with me." Peter said, sounding a little unsure of himself now. He knew that Tony didn't have any ulterior motives, he just had to make Michelle understand that.

"That's ridiculous Peter." Michelle scoffed.

"I don't know Michelle, I mean my mom's like twelve years older than my dad. They met when he was thirty... But If they'd met when he was Peter's age it would have been kind of the same situation. It's not like it's impossible." Ned interjected and Peter flashed them a smile.

"I just don't get it, like what do you guys even have in common?" Michelle questioned, leaning back in her seat once again. She looked like she  _might_ be kind of close to giving up, but Peter could never tell with her.

"He's an engineer. We fixed up this old car together... I just, we haven't even had sex and we first kissed like over a month ago. He's not even pushing for it. He likes me for who I am." Peter said with a shrug and Michelle pursed her lips but then nodded her head.

"I don't really understand, but your secret it safe with us." She assured.

Peter felt his phone vibrating his pocket and pulled it out, seeing that it was Aunt May calling. "Uh, It's May, I gotta take this real quick." Peter didn't leave the booth or anything, just answered the phone and talked in a slightly more hushed tone. "Hey May." He greeted.

"Hello Peter, how is your break going?" She asked, but she didn't really sound great. Her voice was gravelly and rough, kind of like she had a cold.

"It's going alright, excited to see you." He said sweetly, and it was true, he  _was_ excited to see May. Peter loved spending time with her, she'd basically been his best friend until he met Ned.

"Well Peter, things aren't really going as expected. The doctors say I have pneumonia." She explained and then Peter understood why her voice sounded so rough.

"What do you mean? Are you in the hospital?" He questioned, not being able to believe their little family's luck. It was like everything was going right for Peter, so nothing was going right for Aunt May.

"I am. They say it seems pretty bad but I think that's pish posh, I feel fine. Well, maybe a little sick. They just want me to stay for a while." She explained, finally getting to the point.

"How bad?" He asked, focusing on that aspect. May had glazed over that fact.

"Bad." Was all May responded with and Peter understood her meaning.

"Alright... I, well, I'll be fine here. I just want you to get better." He rested his forehead in his hand with a sigh and blinked his eyes a few times.

"I will, I love you Peter." She said.

"Love you too May." And then she hung up first, but Peter held the phone against his ear for a moment longer. "I'm uh, I'm gonna head home. May has pneumonia. She won't make it back for Christmas." He explained quickly, putting his phone back in his pocket.

"Oh dude, I'm sorry. That sucks. She gonna be okay?" Ned asked as Peter was packing his stuff up, downing the rest of his coffee and pulling his keys out of his pocket.

"Yeah, she thinks so. It's just pneumonia. Can't be that bad." He rationalized, but it was mostly for his own sake.

"Sorry for freaking out at you Petey. I hope she feels better." Michelle told him and Peter fixed her with a nod.

Outside it was viciously blowing snow and Peter wished that he'd brought a warmer coat than his hoodie, which he zipped up to the top and pulled his hood on. He clicked the car keys and slipped inside, turning the heat on full blast and peeling out of his parking spot.

He brought his hand up to wipe the cold snow from his face and found that somewhere along the walk to his car he'd started silently crying, warm tears mixing with cold melted snow.

Once he realized that he was crying he couldn't really make himself stop.  _What the fuck does 'bad' pneumonia mean?_ He thought to himself and rubbed his brow. May was all he had left and he  _couldn't_ lose her. It would devastate him, it would absolutely ruin him. Tony wasn't a fucking substitute for her. She was basically his mom.

_Shit._

Peter pulled into the parking garage attached to his apartment and tried to steady himself next to the wheel for a moment, but all he wanted to do was go curl in a ball in Tony's arms. He supposed he could do just that since the man was only upstairs.

He turned the car off and locked the doors before heading up to the apartment and entering, rather loudly before he realized that Tony was  _still_ on the phone. Peter had been gone for at least an hour, and he hadn't stopped listening to the person at the other end.

Peter's eyes were still wet and the corners were brimming a little with new tears, but Peter quickly wiped them away, going to the kitchen and grabbing some cold pasta from last night. He popped it in the microwave and then took a seat on the couch, but wasn't really focusing on eating as much as he was on trying not to cry or make any noises.

Finally, Tony turned around to look at Peter, just to smile at him, and then he noticed that Peter, quite obviously, was not doing very well and Tony seemed to hasten his phone conversation.

"That all sounds great... The New York building?... I thought you said the Los Angeles one was better?... Alright, New York building it is, what was the cost on that again?... Put in an offer well above asking if we're serious... What was your name again?... Ah, yes, well thanks Virginia, I'll be in contact." And then Tony hung up and closed his computer screen. He piled his notes in a more organized fashion before walking over to sit next to Peter on the couch. "What's wrong Petey?" Tony asked.

Peter had stopped crying at this point, but he was still just feeling pretty glum all over. It would be his first Christmas without Aunt May,  _ever._ They'd even done Christmas together when his parents were still alive. "May's sick, she can't make it back for Christmas." He moped as Tony wrapped him up in his arms.

"Oh Pete." He said softly and pressed a kiss to the top of Peter's head.

"It's gonna be my first Christmas without her." He mumbled and Tony just held him in his arms for a moment. Everything was quiet in the apartment and outside and Peter just let himself listen to the sounds of Tony breathing.

"I'll stay for Christmas Pete. You won't be alone." Tony promised and Peter nodded weakly against his chest.

He just didn't even want to have to think about it at the moment, the thought of Aunt May actually not making Christmas dinner or helping him put the tree up was pretty grim for him.

"What was your phone call about?" He finally asked, quietly from his place smashed against Tony's chest.

"A woman that was referred to me as a personal assistant." He explained briefly, but it didn't really give Peter enough information.

"Personal assistant?" He questioned.

"Yeah, I mentioned Stark Industries to you the other day, I'm really trying to get it off the ground within the next few years and Natasha told me Virginia Potts was a go-getter who could handle stuff I don't like. Such as real estate." Tony rambled off and Peter nodded along. He hadn't realized just how serious Tony was about having his own tech company... But he figured if anyone could do it, it was Tony. It wasn't like Tony was some high school drop out wannabe, he was an established name in engineering with a lot of money, he could make things happen.

"Is she pretty?" Peter joked, no real meaning behind it.

"Dunno, haven't met her yet. Not as pretty as you." Tony answered easily and leaned back into the couch, pulling Peter so they were basically on top of one another.

"How do you know if you haven't seen her?" Peter asked.

"Cause you're the prettiest in the world." And Peter probably should have been offended that he'd just been called 'pretty' instead of handsome, but he couldn't really care. Tony was the  _sweetest_ man in the world.

* * *

It was December 24th and Peter realized that he'd made a huge mistake as he stalked through the mall. It was going to be absolutely impossible for him to find a Christmas present for Tony this late in the game.

He already had something, but he wasn't really sure whether he was actually going to give it to Tony. It was kind of dumb.

So there he was, one in the afternoon the day before Christmas, desperately waiting for something to speak to him.

He'd always been pretty terrible at giving presents, and Tony had said he wasn't going to go over board for Christmas like he had for Peter's birthday. It was just... Peter kind of wanted to go over board for him.

He knew a ton about Tony, but none of it seemed to suffice for a Christmas present.

With a frustrated huff, Peter decided that he definitely wasn't going to find anything for Tony at this point, and he would just have to give the man what he'd already found and hope it was good enough. Knowing Tony, the mans present was probably going to be outrageously thoughtful and would probably make Peter cry.

It was actually nice outside for once and he wasn't worried about skidding in his car. He had all the groceries for a good Christmas Eve dinner in the back of the car that he would throw together in the hopes of making something even close to what Aunt May could do.

They hadn't decorated the apartment, Peter hadn't really felt like doing it without May. They didn't even buy a tree.

She was doing a little better, at least out of what the doctors had called the 'danger zone' for now, and would probably be out of the hospital in a week or two. Peter wished that she could have at least been with her friends for Christmas instead of in a stupid hospital bed.

He and Tony had gone out a few times together in the past few days, mostly just to small restaurants where they could have some privacy. Peter wasn't exactly worried about being found out, but they looked like they had an obvious age difference and a lot of people still knew him in town, and knew that he was a high school student. Wasn't hard to figure out that Tony obviously  _wasn't_ a high school student.

Michelle had texted him a long apology that just kind of explained how she didn't understand how, or why, he was into such an older man, but she wouldn't treat Peter any differently because of it, and she didn't really care enough to get worked up anyway. She assured him that his secret was safe with her and Ned, and finally she wished Peter the best for a future between him and Tony. The whole thing was very sweet and Peter hoped that they would remain good friends.

He wondered how things would be when Tony was a well-known, successful entrepreneur, handsome, charming... And when things would come out eventually that Tony was dating such a young kid... If they were even still dating then. Peter wouldn't entertain the idea that they wouldn't be.

"Hey I'm back." Peter called out as he entered the apartment with arms full of bags. There was something different about the apartment that he noticed as soon as he walked in. It smelled nice, kind of like cinnamon and pine needles. He dropped the bags in the kitchen and looked for Tony in the living room, where he was standing next to a moderately sized pine tree, covered in his and May's Christmas ornaments.

Tony hadn't put up all of the boxes of decorations, but he'd put up just enough to make it feel like home. To make it feel like a Tony and Peter Christmas. It was special, and Peter could just stare at Tony in disbelief.

"I can't believe you." Peter muttered, staring at the tree. It had all the average ornaments on it, and then the dumb ones that Peter had made in elementary school, a memorial photo of his parents, one of Uncle Ben, and a few super hero's that Peter had liked through the years.

"I'm pretty great." Tony responded nonchalantly.

"You're fucking amazing if I'm being honest. This is exactly what I needed." Peter breathed and then pulled Tony into a tight hug, trying to pour all of his emotions from the week into it.

"Let's get dinner started and maybe if you're lucky, Santa will bring you some presents in the morning." Tony joked and herded Peter into the kitchen.

"Shut up. And you better not have gotten me too much, just being with you is a present enough as it is." Peter said as he started taking things out of the grocery bags, putting some things away and setting other things that he needed right away to the side.

"Jokes on you, the gift is my presence." Tony said cheekily and grabbed Peter's hips from behind, pulling them back against Tony's. There wasn't any real sexual thought to it, but it made Peter's pulse race anyway.

"Shove off, we can't have sex on Christmas eve. We have to go to bed early." Peter chastised.

* * *

Early in the morning, maybe around seven, Peter woke up. He'd hoped to wake up before Tony but hadn't really figured out a way to make sure that he did. Luckily, Tony was still fast asleep.

He'd thought about a new potential Christmas present for Tony as he was going to bed the night before, and now would be the perfect time to execute it.

Peter hadn't actually given a blowjob before, but he'd always thought waking up to one was a pretty hot thing. Plus it always seemed to go over well in porn.

He and Erik hadn't ever done that to each other, so Peter hoped that he would be alright, and tried to throw caution to the wind as he peeled the blanket off of both of them and very slowly crept down around Tony's thighs. It wasn't like the man had to stay asleep for a long time, just to be groggy enough so that he didn't realize what was happening until his cock was in Peter's mouth.

Deft fingers slipped Tony's cock out of the slit in his boxers, looking up at Tony every few seconds to see if he was stirring. The man didn't seem to be too sensitive while asleep so he slowly lowered his mouth down on the soft length.

It fit in his mouth easily when it wasn't hard and Peter may have gotten a little too much confidence from that fact. He'd seen Tony's erection before and he would do well to remember that it was impressive.

He rolled it around on his tongue for a moment until he finally started to feel it stiffen up against him, press against his tongue with force instead of just bobbing back. Tony was shifting now, his body moving.

Peter vaguely wondered if it was unwise for him to sneak up like this on a combat veteran, but he was already a little too far gone to take it back and Tony's cock was starting to get much bigger in his mouth, the girth of it stretching the corners of his lips and forcing him to breathe almost completely through his nose.

Finally, one of Tony's hands threaded through Peter's hair and he blinked his eyes softly until they focused down on Peter, who had momentarily stopped his sucking to see what Tony would do.

"Petey?" His voice came out, groggy and barely above a whisper. "Holy shit." He muttered and his cock jumped a bit in Peter's mouth, he took that as a sign to keep going.

As Tony reached full hardness Peter was having trouble going up and down, until he could finally just go about halfway down Tony's shaft before gagging a little. He brought one of his hands up to make up for the difference and was setting a steady rhythm with his hands and his mouth, bobbing up and down as Tony rolled his head back and rested his hand loosely on top of Peter's head, a reaffirming gesture.

Peter could tell that Tony was probably getting close to orgasm so he looked up at Tony from under his lashes, raising one eyebrow.

"Yeah, fuck Pete. You should pull off." He insisted but Peter didn't pull off, he just kept swiping his tongue over the tip of Tony's cock and hollowing his cheeks. He was doing just things that he had seen in videos before, and he hoped it was working.

Tony made a noise low in his throat and then liquid was spurting into Peter's mouth, overflowing the edges as he pulled off so that semen dripped down his chin and onto his chest. Peter tried to swallow as much as he could but the last few drops simply hit his lips as he couldn't swallow anymore.

"Merry Christmas." Peter whispered, a coy smirk on his lips.

"Damn, that was the best fucking Christmas present I think I've ever gotten." Tony panted a bit, trying to come back to himself, before flipping Peter over onto his back. "But I think I should return the favor."

And before Peter could say anything, Tony was taking  _all_ of his cock into his mouth and sucking hard. Peter didn't have time to wonder how Tony was able to get all of him in his mouth, or why he seemed to be a sex God. His entire body was over taken with just how much pleasure he was receiving.

He wasn't sure how long he would last with Tony's mouth around him, maybe just seconds. Tony pulled off probably right before Peter would have orgasmed, making him whimper pitifully, and then stuck a finger in his own mouth, getting it dripping wet.

Tony returned his mouth to Peter's erection and his wet finger circled Peter's opening, just toying with it as Peter keened his hips upward. Peter hadn't had anyone play with his ass like this before, and it was making his dick pulse in Tony's moth.

The finger pressed against the hole and then Peter felt himself getting breached. It was one of the strangest things he'd ever felt, but intensely erotic knowing that it was Tony giving him this kind of pleasure.

"Oh fuck." Peter breathed and canted his hips down against the finger, curiosity overtaking him and wondering just what it would feel like deeper.

Tony pushed the finger all the way in, not taking it slowly, just all at once there was an entire finger inside of Peter and he had to clench his stomach painfully to keep from cumming.

Tony's mouth had slowed down a little on Peter's cock, obviously trying to keep him from cumming for a moment as he worked him open. Peter understood that they weren't going to have sex, Tony wasn't even hard again, but he liked this all the same. Any other time he would have thought this was too much, but at the moment it was perfect.

"Can you take another one?" Tony asked, pulling off of his cock just a little.

Peter came back to himself for a second and shook his head. "N-no, just one." He responded and Tony went back to perfectly fucking his mouth with Peter's cock and thrusting the finger in and out of Peter's ass, curling it and rutting it all the way to the hilt.

When Peter came he couldn't even give Tony warning. The man pulled off and got cum on his cheeks, dripping down his face, and his finger pulled out of Peter's ass.

"Was that good?" Tony asked, part of it being Tony's cockiness, and another part was Tony genuinely wondering if that was all alright with Tony.

"Yeah, yeah, that was  _good._ " He emphasized.

"We should just stay in bed all day." Tony grumbled and held on tight to Peter's torso.

"We should clean the cum off of ourselves before it dries on." He pointed out and the slowly Tony disentangled himself, pulling Peter off of the bed with him.

"Yeah, yeah, I gotta give you your other present anyway." Tony responded, tucking himself back into his shorts and grabbing a towel from the bathroom, getting it adequately wet before rubbing it over his chest, tenderly clearing the drying liquid off of Peter as well.

"I don't think I can take many more presents." Peter complained, flashing Tony a wink and taking a seat on the couch. Thankfully Tony hadn't gone overboard, there were only two presents underneath the tree. One for Peter and one for Tony.

"You're a kid, I could have you hard again in five minutes." Tony tempted and grabbed the presents, taking a seat next to Peter and handing him his.

"Please don't test that." Peter whined, his body was sore from all the orgasms he'd had seen Tony had arrived. Most of the time they'd jacked each other off, but a few times they'd simply watched each other or rutted against one another.

"Whatever. Can I open mine?" Tony asked, turning the small parcel over in his hands.

"Yeah, It's kind of stupid... But... Well, I thought of you." Was all Peter had to offer up in explanation for the present before Tony was pulling it open.

Underneath the paper was a white box, like the kind you would put a necklace in. Peter had bough that separately. Tony was obviously intrigued as he pulled the top of the box off and then broke out into a grin.

"Told you it was stupid." Peter mumbled.

"It's not stupid. It's cute. Way cuter what I got you." Tony commented and pulled it out of the box. It was a bracelet, the cheap kind you got from the gas station that had every different common name on it. It was just simple small blue beads, and in tiny letters they spelled out PETER. Peter hadn't actually seen Tony ever wear jewelry, but the man loved flaunting his things. While Peter didn't really think of himself as a  _thing_ , he was still Tony's. "I'm gonna wear to class, and no kid is going to be able to tell that you're my Peter. I'll be bragging about you in plain sight." Tony said and slid it onto his wrist before tightening it with the pulley.

Peter had to admit that it was actually kind of hot Tony would do that. It wasn't much of a risk since their were hundreds of thousands of people named Peter and the writing was so small that no one would be able to read it if Tony was at the front of the classroom, but it was thrilling still to have Tony showing off the fact that he was Peters and Peter was his in front of everyone.

He looked down at the package in his hands then. It was shaped like a piece of paper, but hard like a folder of a picture frame. When he pulled the paper off he saw that it was a leather folder, inside several typed pages.

On one side the stack of papers said ' _Letter of Recommendation for Peter Parker from Dr. Bruce Banner_ ' and in the other pocket of the folder it said ' _Letter of Recommendation for Peter Parker from Sgt. Anthony E. Stark._ '

"You actually wrote me a letter of rec to MIT? And you got Mr. Banner to as well?" Peter gushed out, skimming some of the pages quickly. They said mostly standard stuff, but Peter had never seem something like this written to talk  _him_ up.

"Yeah, kind of lame of me to give you a present you can't really keep, but Bruce was more than happy to write you one. I'll send that in for you as soon as I can." Tony promised.

"No, Tony this is perfect. This could be everything. You could have literally just gotten me into MIT, I think that's the best Christmas present." Peter closed the folder finally in his hands and his his fingers over the leather again. "I can't believe you're mine." Peter said under his breath.

"I'm the one dating the cute, super-genius. I can't believe  _you're_ mine." Tony corrected.

"But I have the sexy,  _actual_ super-genius. So I win." Peter retorted.

Tony's only response was to cup Peter's jaw and pull him in for a kiss, letting the folder and any worries they had, slide to the floor.


	11. Good For Me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The new characters mentioned are "Vin" who is Groot since Vin Diesel plays him, and "Bradley" who is Rocket since Bradley Cooper plays him, and the third new character... Well you'll just have to find out :)  
> Oh and "Zoe" is obviously Gamora from Zoe Saldana.  
> Basically if their names are weird I'm just givin them their actors names. Which really only applies to GotG characters.  
> -also, you probably won't even notice it, but i changed the texting format a BIT so that if Peter is sending a text it no longer says "Sent: Peter" it will says who the text is sent to, I just kind of realized that it's obvious Peter is the one sending the messages.  
> -this chapter has like no plot, just porn. ~enjoy~

**The Avengers 10:09 am.**

> _Spiderman:_ Hey guys, know it's still early. maybe a meeting at 3?
> 
> _Ant-Man:_ ur asking a lot pete (10:11)
> 
> _Spiderman:_ You're supposed to be back on school grounds by 12 anyway! (10:12)
> 
> _Starlord:_ gotcha cap see ya then (10:15)
> 
> _Captain America:_ Sounds good Peter. (10:15)
> 
> _Ant-Man:_ oh ya u ~timely~ fuckers making me look bad (10:17)
> 
> _Winter Solider:_ be there around 11 Steve! (10:20)
> 
> _Falcon:_ i'll roll up like 11 anyway (10:20)
> 
> _Falcon:_ fuck you barnes, and keep ur lovey dovey shit in private (10:22)
> 
> _Winter Soldier:_ ur just jealous because i loooooove my stevey and ur all alone (10:24)
> 
> _Captain America:_ cut it weirdos (10:25)
> 
> _God of Mischief:_ once the princess finishes with his hair, we'll be there, on time (10:28)
> 
> _God of Thunder:_ fuck u (10:30)
> 
> _Black Panther:_ see ya at three Pete (10:31)
> 
> _Vision:_ Three o'clock, got it. (10:32)
> 
> _Drax the Destroyer:_ ok (10:35)
> 
> _Spiderman:_ Looks like we've got everyone, thanks guys! (10:37)

"This whole team is a fucking shit-show." Peter groaned and slid his phone into his pocket. Tony was driving them back, at his own suggestion, and Peter had eagerly gone along with it. He hadn't gotten much sleep last night, hadn't gotten much any nights since Christmas really. Peter could attest to the fact that he was actually pretty good at blow jobs now, and he could easily say that he would never get tired of blow jobs from Tony.

"But it's your shit-show." Tony reminded, sending him a joking smile, Peter reached over and pinched Tony's leg, but then let his hand rest on it afterward. "Plus you guys are totally gonna win state this year." Tony added.

"You don't know anything about soccer." Peter protested, he'd watched some games over break and Tony really was completely clueless about soccer.

"I know that you play it and you're good." He joked and Peter squeezed Tony's thigh. "What's got you calling them a shit-show now?"

"Well first of all, I'm in charge of getting everyone ready for state, and second of all, apparently we're getting  _three_ sophomore transfers next semester. Three, what am I supposed to do with them? I'm gonna have to start benching people." Peter was stressed out just thinking about having to bench one of his friends so that the new recruits could play.

"Three new students coming in halfway through the year, that's weird." Tony mused, not even picking up on what Peter was  _really_ worried about.

"Yeah I don't know. Two of them, Vin and Bradley I think?, are some rich pricks who needed to transfer for 'undisclosed reasons.' The other guy, shit I forget his name, Coach Coulson said that he specifically  _wanted_ to play for Cantu. Fucking weird if you ask me." Peter ranted and Tony rested his hand over Peter's.

"You seem a little too worked up about this Petey. You'll do great, you have everyone else on the team backing you up." Tony reassured and Peter nodded, sinking back into the leather seats and his thoughts.

* * *

"Wow Scott, super great of you to have finally shown up." Peter drolled with a roll of his eyes for emphasis. Scott had arrived basically right when Peter finished giving his break speech to the team, missing the actual practice entirely.

"This time it was definitely not my fault. I was so busy all of break that I didn't have time to pack up my stuff until this morning, and of course that took basically all day. And long story short, definitely was my fault, but I'm not taking the blame for it." Scott spit out, becoming convoluted towards the end.

"And I wouldn't have expected a different answer from you." Peter said with a bit of a laugh. They were heading up towards the dorms, where Peter presumed Scott hadn't even started putting his stuff away, even though they had classes in the morning and Scott would probably be completely disorganized.

"Hey, by the way, that third transfer student... Fuck what was his name? The big one." Scott said after a moment of silence, the two of them stopping at the stairs leading up to the dorms.

"Yeah, I know who you're talking about." Peter nodded.

"I know him, well I don't  _know_ him know him, but he used to date Quill's girl friend apparently. Heard he's a real piece of shit." Scott explained.

Peter had to think for a moment, screwing his eyebrows together. "Okay, so first of all, you're saying that Quill's girl friend is real? And second, this guy already seems weird enough, he  _specifically_ wants to play for Cantu. We haven't been that great of a team for a couple years." Not since before Peter had been playing, they'd won state maybe seven years in a row in the  _nineties_ but there was nothing suggestive of them making a comeback.

"Yeah, Zoe, she's pretty tight, way out of Quill's league. Anyway, yeah I heard he was just a real piece of work when she and Quill got together. Saying shit like she was the only person he's ever loved, just cringey stuff yaknow?" Scott leaned back against the railing of the stair case.

"I hope this isn't anything to do with Quill, We've already got enough tension between him and Steve, it would just be annoying if there were any more conflicts this school year. Let's just hope that maybe he wants to actually help our team and not screw us over." Peter was honestly worried now. It would just be such a  _stupid teenage fanfiction_ level of obvious if the new kid was actually just coming to stir up trouble over a past girl friend.

"Anyway, I forgot something at home so I'm gonna jet back real quick. See ya tomorrow Petey." Scott pushed himself off from against the railing and swung his keys around his finger.

"Bring me a coffee, since I know you're going to stop at Starbucks on the way back." Pete thought that maybe Scott was really just going to Starbucks and hadn't forgotten anything at all.

"You know me too well Pete. Grande iced soy latte?" He double checked, already backing up to walk towards the parking lot.

"You're the one who knows me too well."

* * *

**The Avengers 8:19 pm.**

> _Starlord_ : I've got the new recruits nick names: Iron Man, Hulk, and Hawkeye.
> 
> _Ant-Man:_ we don't even know them yet! (8:21)
> 
> _Winter Soldier:_  yeah it's gotta come naturally (8:23)
> 
> _Falcon:_  plus those sound dumb (8:24)
> 
> _Spiderman:_ i'll have u kno that scott and i worked very hard on our current nicknames (8:26)
> 
> _Ant-Man:_ you don't get any credit petey! you just came up with ant-man for me, and i still think it's insulting (8:29)
> 
> _Spiderman:_ but you came up with spiderman for me, same difference (8:31)
> 
> _Ant-Man:_ the point is we can't know until we meet them! (8:32)
> 
> _God of Mischief:_ is this really that important? (8:35)
> 
> _Ant-Man:_ shut up ur just mad because your name was so obvious! (8:38)
> 
> _Captain America:_ no one's complained about their names till now, what gives? (8:40)
> 
> _Vision:_ Where did these names even come from? (8:42)
> 
> _Ant-Man:_ it's a very complicated algorithm whereby I think of a cool name, and assign it to you. (8:45)

It was getting pretty late into the night, Pete was in his pajamas and laying in his bed, a few text books open around him with home work he was getting ahead on. Everyone else seemed to be in the common room or outside. T'Challa was still somewhere so Peter had the room to himself for a bit.

He'd finished up most of the home work that he'd been working on so he shot off a quick text to Tony.

**Sent: Tony 8:50 pm.**

> miss falling asleep with you :(

Peter had gotten so used to sleeping every night in his tiny bed with Tony that his dorm bed felt almost too big for just him. He wanted Tony to hold him as he fell asleep, wanted to be able to snuggle against him.

He picked one of his notebooks back up and absentmindedly worked on an essay for English while he awaited a reply from Tony. He wasn't able to get very deep into his work as he was more busy thinking about when Tony would text him back.

**Received: Tony 9:01 pm.**

> I miss you too Petey. My house is too big.

Peter thought about his response for just a moment. He could easily just say 'goodnight' and end their exchange there, or he could say something more suggestive. He'd never really talked dirty over texting before. It seemed kind of weird and impersonal, but Peter really wanted to have at least some kind of exchange with Tony tonight, and he was a little too tired to try and hold an actual conversation. They were good enough at that in person anyway.

**Sent: Tony 9:10 pm.**

> I wish you were here, doing that stuff with me that we did...

Okay, so maybe Peter didn't actually just  _go for it_ with the dirty talk, but he was still a little shy around it. He was shy enough talking about sex stuff in person that he doubted he would be any better when they weren't face to face.

**Received: Tony 9:12 pm.**

> What stuff Petey?

And Peter would have thought that maybe Tony just wasn't getting the message, but there was something about the way he wrote it that made Peter think Tony new  _exactly_ what he'd been hinting at.

Peter struggled with figuring out what he wanted to say next. He wanted to just say it outright, but at the same time he was nervous to. What if Tony really wasn't understanding?

Finally, Peter just bit the bullet and typed out a response.

**Sent: Peter 9:20 pm.**

> Like having your cock in my mouth.

Maybe it was a little too forward, but it conveyed exactly what Peter wanted to say. Peter loved having Tony suck him off, but more than that he was elated whenever Tony came because of his mouth, it was an amazing feeling to have that much control over the man.

**Received: Tony 9:22 pm.**

> You liked that? You were so good for me, taking me in your mouth.

Peter felt his body flush at being told he was 'good' by Tony. It seemed like such high praise, and it made his cock swell a bit in his thin pajama bottoms. He looked towards the door, where T'Challa could walk in at anytime, and the pulled the curtain around his bed closed.

He realized that if he was actually jerking off, the curtain wouldn't offer him much privacy, but at least if he kept him mouth shut he might be able to get away with it. And Peter could definitely tell, that unless Tony stopped things right now, he would be jerking off tonight.

**Sent: Tony 9:24 pm.**

> I like being good for you. I would do anything.

Peter was being almost completely serious, there were obviously a few things that he and Tony hadn't done over Christmas break, but Tony respected his boundaries. They hadn't gotten past more than one finger inside of him, and Peter didn't know when they would. He wasn't holding onto his virginity for any particular reason, he just didn't feel comfortable yet.

It wasn't that he didn't feel comfortable with Tony, they'd already gotten far past when Peter had previously done. It was just that Peter didn't want to go so far so fast. He didn't see any reason to when they both obviously liked what they were currently doing.

**Received: Tony 9:26 pm.**

> You're gonna be the death of me.

And then, before Peter had a chance to think of a response, Tony had texted him again.

**Received: Tony 9:26 pm.**

> Are you alone?

**Sent: Tony 9:27 pm.**

> Yes.

Peter wondered what this would bring, why Tony would want to know if he was alone, other than to send him pictures, but Peter wouldn't get that ahead of himself.

**Received: Tony 9:30 pm.**

> [image attachment]

In the message was a picture of Tony, wearing sweatpants but gripping his obviously erect cock. Peter could see the entire outline of it through Tony's sweats and he had to take in a deep breath, feeling his body flush again.

He pushed the waistband of his pajamas under his cock and couldn't wait before giving it a quick stroke. Pre-cum was already leaking at the top, Peter got  _very_ wet. He had to force himself to stop after a moment, realizing that Tony would be expecting a picture back. Actually, he was such a good guy that he probably  _wasn't_ expecting a picture back but Peter would sent one.

He angled his camera to get his hand tightly around his dick, turning the flash on so that Tony would be able to see the slick sheen of pre-cum that he was using as lube to jerk himself off.

**Sent: Tony 9:35 pm.**

> Look at how wet you made me.  
>  [image attachment]

Peter tried to control how fast he was stroking his hand, even going so far as to circle his fingers at the base so that he wouldn't ejaculate. If he and Tony were really gonna do this then he wanted to cum at the same time as Tony. He wanted to see a picture of Tony covered in his own semen.

The idea of sending pictures was just so dirty and risky that Peter knew he wasn't going to last that long. He already didn't have much stamina, this might just put him over the edge.

**Received: Tony 9:39 pm.**

> Fuck Petey, look at that mess you made, all for me. Can you make a bigger mess for me sweetheart?  
>  [image attachment]

This time it was a picture of Tony holding his erection in his hand, Peter could tell that he was standing up, the background made it look like it was his kitchen, so he wasn't even in his bed. He was just standing in the middle of his kitchen jacking off to pictures of Peter.

Peter really didn't think he was going to last longer.

His impending orgasm was stopped short by the sound of the door opening and closing, T'Challa coming in.

"Hey Pete, you awake?" He asked, voice low in case Peter was sleeping. Pete scrambled for a moment before realizing that the curtain was closed and TC couldn't see him. He couldn't tell what Peter was doing just a few feet away from him.

"Yeah I'm still up." He whispered back, even though there wasn't really a point since they were both awake.

"Is it cool if I watch some shows? I don't wanna keep you up but I'm  _almost_ done with the office, like an hour left." TC asked and Peter realized that nothing better could have happened. This would give him the perfect opportunity to make at least a little noise. He obviously couldn't moan or anything, but at least the sounds of his hand moving over himself wouldn't be so obvious.

"Uh, yeah, no worries!" Peter said back and sighed in contentment when he heard TC getting his lap top out.

**Sent: Tony 9:48 pm.**

> My roommate just came in.  
>  [image attachment]

Peter took another quick shot of himself with his hand around his cock, this time panning the camera so that Tony would be able to see more of the tops of his thighs and a bit of his stomach.

**Received: Tony 9:50 pm.**

> Do we need to stop?  
>  [image attachment]

Even with the cautionary words Tony had included a photo of himself, holding up his shirt and letting his erection bow heavily between his legs. Peter loved the size of Tony's cock, it was just big enough that it wasn't intimidating, but it no way was it small. It was long and had a considerable girth to it. It swung to one side when it wasn't being held up and Peter had to shove his hand against his mouth to keep from making a noise.

**Sent: Peter 9:52 pm.**

> Don't worry, I can keep myself quiet.  
>  [image attachment]

Peter had shoved part of his blanket in his mouth to keep himself from making too many noises. In his picture it showed his chest and his cock still, but also included his face, and him biting down visibly hard on the blanket.

**Received: Tony 9:55 pm.**

> I can't believe your doing this with someone just a few feet away. You're fucking perfect.  
>  [video attachment]

Peter muted his phone and then played the clip. It was only a few seconds long, just Tony thrusting leisurely into his fist a few times, Peter could clearly see he was leaning against the kitchen cabinets now, pressing against them as he drew back, only to thrust back into the tight circle again.

**Sent: Peter 9:59 pm.**

> What can I do to make you cum?  
>  [video attachment]

Peter sent a similar video of himself stroking up and down his erection. He turned the flash on against so that Tony could see the pre-cum helping his hand glide over the smooth skin.

What he really wanted to see was Tony cumming on video, to be able to go back whenever he wanted to and view the video again. He wouldn't have to imagine Tony orgasming at night when he wasn't there, he could just watch a video, porn made just for him.

**Received: Tony 10:01 pm.**

> Finger yourself. One finger, take it slow sweetheart.

There wasn't a picture of video this time and Peter had to work quickly to get his finger inside if he wanted another one. TC was watching his show a bit louder than would be considered polite so Peter figured he could make at least a little bit of noise.

He spit onto his forefinger and then shoved it into his mouth, running his tongue over it and getting it as wet as possible. Tony had used lube a few times with his fingers, but for such a small intrusion, spit seemed like it would be enough.

He pushed his finger in slowly, getting used to the feel again. It was foreign putting his own finger inside of him, but at the same time felt more natural. He liked Tony's thick fingers, they were a little bit bigger than Peter's, he didn't feel as full.

**Sent: Peter 10:09 pm.**

> Is this good?  
>  [video attachment]

Peter took a short clip of himself pushing his finger in and out of himself, slowly at first and then gaining speed. He was trying to find the spot that Tony always found, but he just couldn't quite get to it. Tony could hit it dead on every time, Tony could do a lot of things better.

**Received: Tony 10:12 pm.**

> God look at you. Working yourself open like that, does it feel good Petey?  
>  [video attachment]

Tony was thrusting his hips into his fist faster now, erratically and like he was going to orgasm soon. Peter didn't want this to end quite yet though, so he shot back another response to Tony, this time without a picture.

**Sent: Tony 10:15 pm.**

> Can I put two inside?

Peter didn't really know why he was asking permission. It was his body, he could do what he wanted. But he liked it when Tony told him he was doing a good job, and he didn't want Tony to get mad that  _he_ wasn't the one to put two fingers inside of him for the first time.

**Received: Tony 10:17 pm.**

> Fuck yes you can.

He had to pull his finger out so that he could coat his middle finger in saliva, making sure to get it absolutely dripping before he moved his hand back down to his ass. He started filming a video before he even put his fingers inside so that Tony could see him slip one finger in, and then the other.

He took a moment to adjust to the feeling of having two inside of him. He had to push in slower than usual, but the stretch wasn't that much greater than one of Tony's thick, calloused fingers.

When he bottomed out at his knuckles Peter wondered momentarily what he was supposed to do, he thrust the two fingers in and out a few times, setting a rhythm, before he realized that scissoring them inside of him made the stretch even better. He finally hit his prostate and had to brace his head against his pillow, tightening the muscles in his jaw.

Peter finally stopped the video at a minute and a half of him opening himself up. Tony would be able to clearly see his fingers stretching himself wider and wider. He wondered what more fingers would feel like, Peter loved the stretch. Just one finger inside of him hadn't really been much of a stretch, but two introduced him to the fact that he loved it.

**Sent: Tony 10:21 pm.**

> I wish they were yours.  
>  [video attachment]

Barely a minute passed before Tony was texting him back, another video of him jerking off, but this time it was slower, like he was trying to stave off his orgasm.

**Received: Tony 10:22 pm.**

> I would stretch you out so good Peter. For hours, three, four fingers. You're so good for me, you're doing such a good job.  
>  [video attachment]

Peter hastily typed out a reply, not bothering to send anything with it.

**Sent: Tony 10:23 pm.**

> Can i do three?

Again he was asking Tony permission. The man would have no way of knowing if Peter really put three inside of himself, but Peter would feel bad. He wanted Tony to be the first person to do that to him, but he was so turned on that he also just wanted it to happen right now.

**Received: Tony 10:25 pm.**

> Let's stick with two tonight. You're so good asking me though. Are you going to cum soon?

**Sent: Tony 10:27 pm.**

> I like it when you tell me I'm being good.  
>  [video attachment]

Peter had pulled his fingers out and gone back to jacking himself off in the video, which had brought him to completion sooner than he would have expected. In the video Peter stroked himself until he came in slow thick spurts over his hand until it was covered.

He panned the camera up to his face and brought his semen covered hand up so that he could lick off the mess he made, tasting himself and letting his eyes roll back into his head at all the sensations around him.

**Received: Tony 10:30 pm.**

> Do you? Because you're perfect, everything you do. Look at how well you cleaned your mess.  
>  [video attachment]

Tony was orgasming in the video, his semen coming out in ropes over his hand and when he was finally done he turned the camera down to where his seed was coating the floor. Peter wished it was in his mouth instead.

**Sent: Tony 10:31 pm.**

> I miss you.

He had tucked himself back into his pants and cleaned the mess with a spare shirt that was on his bed, he would have to deal with that in the morning. Right now he just wanted to go to bed, he was tired.

**Received: Tony 10:33 pm.**

> I miss you too Petey. See you in the morning.

* * *

Peter got up early in the morning, as he usually did.

The first thing he did was change into his running clothes, before he took his semen covered shirt to the bathroom to wash some of the cum out of it. He threw it in the laundry hamper after, but at least it wouldn't be so terribly obvious that he'd used the shirt to clean himself up.

The air outside was crisp, but no longer cold. They'd gone through the worst of the winter season and now soccer would be in full swing. The track was empty and it was still dark outside as he started running, but it helped clear his mind.

He liked the praise that Tony had given him last night, and he wondered if that made him a little weird. He'd heard about kinks before of course, but he wasn't really sure if that was a kink. He just liked it when Tony told him he was doing good, even if they were working on equations or fixing a car he liked it. It made him feel proud, that he'd made Tony proud.

Peter had also never fingered himself before but he really enjoyed working himself open. He liked it when Tony's fingers were inside of him too, but he wondered just how erotic it would be if he worked himself open to take Tony's cock. Peter had to stop thinking about that before he would get an erection in the middle of running.

Math would be hard today with Tony standing at the front of the room. He would probably wear pants that were just a little too tight for him, and maybe if Peter was lucky he would have on a tee shirt that hugged at his biceps.

Peter shook his head harshly to get rid of these thoughts as he slowed his run and jogged back to the dorms so he could change and head down to breakfast. He uniform was neatly pressed and he pulled it on without waking TC, who had watched TV for more like four hours last night. Peter had been so tired though that he hadn't minded.

Loki was loitering in the hall as Peter left his room and Peter raised an eyebrow at him. "Waiting for someone?" He asked, falling into step with Loki as they walked towards the cafeteria.

"Yeah, you. I had some questions about the new players." He explained as they walked. Peter didn't usually see Loki this early, he didn't usually see anyone this early.

"I don't really know much more about them then what I told you yesterday." Pete said, everyone was expecting him to know everything, but he just  _didn't._

"I just wanted to know who you're going to have to bench." Ah, that Pete did know. He knew what positions each of the knew people played, and thus, by default, he knew the people he was going to have to occasionally bench.

"Getting benched isn't that big of a deal Lokes. I mean these guys can always play half games." Peter answered. It probably wouldn't be in their best interests for the to happen, but still they  _could._

"That doesn't sound like good news." Loki said grimly as they worked their way through the breakfast line and then took seats.

"Yeah alright, the guy Vin, he's a goalie. You're gonna have to be benched a few games." Pete finally admitted.

He probably should have expected Loki to get petulant and angry, but it still surprised him a bit when Loki shoved his food tray away, got up, and simply walked off.

 _Figures,_ Pete thought to himself. Loki really didn't like competition. And now he had one more person to deal with that would be mad at him about this. The other two players he would have to bench were Bucky and Scott.

Bucky Pete wasn't  _too_ worried about. He'd just had major surgery on his arm over the summer and sometimes it seemed like he got a little worn out during games, so it might actually be good to have someone to sub in for him. Bucky was pretty head strong though, so Peter figured their might be some friction there.

Weirdly enough, Peter was king of worried about Scott. The man didn't much act it, but he was pretty full of himself, and probably wasn't going to relinquish control to another person he barely knew without putting up a fight. Pete just hoped that Scott realized it was all business, and they would remain friends.

This was the shit-show that he'd been worried about.

The rest of the team filtered in as it got later in the morning until the table was full up of players, everyone except Loki and Scott who was running late to breakfast. Almost as soon as most of the team had sat down, some of them were leaving to go to their classes or drifting off to talk to other people, and then Peter realized he actually had to go to math and watch Tony teach for a whole period.

Supposedly, Peter should be learning things in math, but he doubted much of that would be happening with Tony teaching him.

He and Steve walked in amicable silence towards the math room, they made a bit of small talk but didn't have a lot to talk about. 

Tony wasn't in the room yet when Peter got there, he must have been in his office. So Peter got his books out, opening his notebook to the homework he'd done over winter break.

When the bell rang and Tony finally came out of his office, he started the class off. "Good to see you guys, and as always, announcements..." Tony droned on about everything they needed to know, but all Peter could focus on was the discreet bracelet on his wrist, that in tiny letters read: Peter. 


	12. Strange

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey so I'm back! And if I'm being completely honest with you guys, I almost didn't come back. I was super close to abandoning this work but the huge amounts of support that I got have convinced me to finish it.   
> I was really disappointed with the quality of my writing and storytelling in the last few chapters, I don't believe it matched the rest of the work and I certainly think that the previous chapter was juxtaposed.   
> I can only hope that you guys continue to enjoy and support this story, because it's far from finished.   
> Oh, and you still won't know who the third new soccer player is for... 4 chapters ;)  
> ~there's a 'supernatural' and a 'sherlock' easter egg in this chapter ::))  
> ~also sorry if Strange is too much like Sherlock, oops.   
> ~chapters are gonna be around this length from now on :)

"Pete! Hook left!" Steve yelled from across the field, waving his arms to try and get Peter's attention.

"No, no! PETE, LEFT!" Quill shouted, waving his arms just as enthusiastically as Steve was, basically jumping up and down to try and convey his point.

"Straight! Straight! Right through!" Thor was motioning his arms in a complex play that he was trying to get Peter to follow.

"Maybe backwards too, for good measure!" Scott joked, cupping his hands around his mouth so he could shout it.

Peter was running out of time to make a move. There were people all over him and he had the ball so it wasn't like he could just stand still. The smallest guy was on Pete's left so he ducked that way, his soccer cleats squelching on the damp grass. He hadn't gone for a run this morning but it had been raining basically all day, even as they were playing, rain was pouring down on them. He was soaked through to the bone and chilled to his core.

Freezing and wet didn't make for the best conditions to play it, so as Peter tried to swerve around the man on his left they checked shoulders and both of them tumbled to the ground, the other player on top of Peter.

"Shit!" Peter yelled as the other man scrambled to get off of him. His entire forearm was on fire and when the player finally got up, Peter rolled to a sitting position and saw that his wrist was an inflamed red color.

Scott was by his side first, helping him off the ground with his good arm. "You break it Pete?" He asked. The ref had called a time out so the game wasn't majorly disrupted. There was only about ten minutes left in the game and they were ahead, so Peter was super worried about the status of it.

"No, I didn't break it, it just  _fucking hurts._ " He emphasized and winced when he tried to rotate his hand even a little.

Coulson met them about halfway to the bench, jogging out onto the field. "What's up Pete? You need to go to the infirmary?" He asked, walking with them now towards the sidelines so that Pete could get off the field.

"I don't know. It's not broken." Pete said weakly. He didn't really want to go to the infirmary and miss the rest of the game, but he figured it would probably be for the best.

"Scott, can you take him up to Strange? Don't worry about the game guys, we're 2-0." Coulson briefed, so Peter figured they were probably in the clear unless the other team scored three points in ten minutes.

Blow out rounds for state started in February, with the second semester, this was just some more friendly rivalry. Still though, Peter hated losing.

Once they were clear of the pitch, Peter could hears sounds of the game commencing.

"Hope it's not anything serious." Scott mumbled, pushing open the door for Peter. They were at one of the back entrances to the main building, which stayed unlocked basically all the time given that they were surrounded by iron wrought fences.

"It's not. Just a sprain or something. Anyway, I don't need my arm for soccer." Peter answered, even though Scott had been basically talking to himself.

"I don't know Petey, I mean if Loki gets sick... And then every other player on the team, you'll have to play goalie." Scott joked and Peter rolled his eyes.

It was weird walking through the school in the dark. All the doors were closed, it was getting dark outside the windows, the school didn't even have automatic lights, so they were walking in near dark.

Strange lived full time at the school, so they knew they would find him in the room attached to the infirmary. Pete had never actually been in the infirmary, but Scott had been enough times for the both of them. The greatest interaction he'd ever had with Strange was when he'd burnt his hand on that cigarette.

"If I have to play goalie, I'm officially resigning." He snarked right back. There wasn't even a chain of command like that in place for the games. If Loki got sick they would deal with it, there wasn't anyone appointed to take him place. Although, now that the new kids were coming there would be someone.

The infirmary had the lights on, for which Peter was glad, he hadn't really been looking forward to knocking on the mans door.

"Hey, Doctor?" Pete called lightly, pushing the door open. Strange was bent over his desk and studying some papers. He looked up when Peter called out.

"Peter." He said curtly and then didn't respond for a moment. "Take a seat on the bed. Pete did as he was told, Strange only gave a cursory glance to Scott, but Peter figured it was obvious who was hurt in this situation.

Scott lingered by Peter's side for a moment and Strange flashed his gaze up towards him, prompting Scott to say his goodbyes and leave. "Uh, I'll see you later Petey. I'll bring the team up."

"Sounds good!" Peter said with a nod, watching Scott walk out of the room, still dressed completely in his soccer gear.

""So what happened?" Strange asked, coming over to stand next to the hospital bed that Pete was sitting on. Strange pulled up a chair next to it, which Peter was glad for. Doctor Strange was an imposing man, and all the more intimidating if he was looming over Peter as he sat in the hospital bed.

"I got tackled, landed on my wrist weird. It doesn't hurt  _that_ bad." He emphasized, not wanting Strange to think that he'd broken it or anything. Hopefully he could just have it wrapped up in an ace bandage and be on his way. Dealing with a superficial injury was not something he needed right now.

Semester exams were coming up soon, which Peter logically shouldn't be worried about, but he still was. A lot was riding on these tests. Currently, he had above a 97 in every class and was on the fast track to graduate at the end of the year, but if something went wrong in his tests that could be reevaluated.

It was a stupid thing to be hung up on, but Peter just didn't want one more thing to fret over. Or one more thing for Tony to fret over for that matter.

Tony had been kind of strange lately, a little more reserved and a little more on guard. He'd told Peter to delete all their text messages but muttered something about how 'that still won't do any good.' Pete was concerned, but Tony hadn't given him any concrete proof that they'd been found out, or someone was on to them. He did wonder about why Tony hadn't been at his game tonight, but figured that it was only reasonable Tony wouldn't have  _every_ Saturday night to come watch a sport that he didn't even particularly like.

"Parker your hand." Strange said, repeating himself, though Peter hadn't been paying attention the first time. Strange was holding his own hand out and took Peter's in it, holding it at the exact angle he wanted to look at the wrist.

Strange pushed against his hand, which didn't feel like anything. He then did the same action except with pulling, and still Peter didn't feel much of anything. It was when Strange tried to rotate his hand on his wrist that he winced in pain and reflexively jerked it back towards himself. Strange fixed him with a look and Peter gave him the hand back.

"It looks like it's probably just a sprain. I'll wrap it up for you. Come back here in the morning and I'll re-wrap it, then the proceeding mornings. We'll keep it wrapped up at least for a week just to let it heal. I  _don't_ want you wrapping it up yourself, especially not before you go to sleep, that's how you lose a hand." He warned and stood up from the chair he was sitting at, grabbing some supplies.

He watched Strange, the man was tall, not unelegant, and not conventionally attractive. Peter hadn't spent much time around him but he seemed nice. Especially since he remembered that he'd  _saved_ Tony's life all those years ago.

Shutting one of the drawers into the cabinet he was at, Strange hesitated in front a radio, before finally using one of his vaguely tremoring fingers to press it on, tuned into whatever the local rock station was.

It took a moment for Peter to recognize the song as it started in the direct middle of it. " _Heat of the moment."_ Peter commented. It was a mildly popular song, one that came on the station at least once every few days. Tony knew everything about rock music, so when they listened to the radio in the car he would tell Peter facts about the songs, and Peter being himself always remembered them.

"Yes, by Asia. Released in-" Strange started and Peter joined in.

"1982." They finished in unison and Strange gave him a brief an indecipherable look before sitting back down in the chair and prompting Peter to hold his hand out like earlier.

Strange started by taping it with bland looking athletic tape, followed by wrapping it and then shuffling around in another cabinet before he found a wrist brace.

"Do I really have to wear the brace?" Peter asked. It was very awkward looking, would draw attention to him, and not to mention it would severely worsen his already terrible handwriting.

Strange gave him a look that shut him up and Peter nodded, letting Strange strap it on his wrist.

The song changed abruptly, not even letting the first on finish before a new beat was playing.

"Passage to Bangkok, Rush." Peter supplied immediately, having realized that Strange must rather enjoy music if he could prattle off facts about it.

"Released in 1976." Strange said, almost as if on impulse.

"On the 2112 album." Peter added the final bit of information that he knew about the song. This song was slightly special since Tony happened to own the album, and insisted on actually listening to the 38 minute song  _2112_ , the namesake for the album.

"I have pain killers in my office, follow me." Strange directed and Peter hopped off the bed, feeling the added weight on his arm as he did. "You know quite a bit about music." Strange remarked, pushing open the door for Peter.

The office was refined, minimalist, and looked expensive. There was almost nothing in it that could show him a glimpse of just who Strange was, save for a few pictures on his desk that were facing the wrong way for Peter to see. "Uh yeah, To-- uh, Mr. Stark and I fixed up an old car. We would listen to the radio." Peter said, scolding himself for almost saying  _Tony._ The fact that they'd fixed the car wasn't exactly a secret since they'd done it in the parking lot and more than a few teachers had walked by. Mr. Barton had even offered to help a few times, Tony always turned him down.

"Hm." Was all Doctor Strange's response as he opened the top drawer of his desk, he rifled around in it for a moment and then opened the drawer below it, not seeming to find what he was looking for. "I must have left it out there, I'll be right back."

Strange left and the door shut heavy behind him. Peter immediately walked to the other side of Strange's desk, trying to take in the pictures as quickly as possible. There was one of him in a Doctor's coat standing next to a pretty looking nurse. Another without him, featuring a bald woman, a black man, and an overweight looking Chinese man. The last picture was similar to one in Tony's office of him and Ms. Romanoff standing next to each other in cocktail party like attire. If Peter was remembering correctly, this was probably the same night since he recognized the clothing that Tony and Ms. Romanoff were wearing, but Doctor Strange was standing next to them, wearing a scarf and an expensive looking coat with the collar popped, he looked significantly younger in the photo as well.

Peter went back to the other side of the desk just as Doctor Strange walked back in, hopefully convincing that man that nothing was amiss.

Strange eyed him, raising an eyebrow before seeming to disregard it and setting a glass of water on his desk, opening the pill bottle and giving two to Peter, who washed them down with water.

He should have left after that,  _really, really_ should have just gone back to the common room and forgotten all about the picture, about how Strange would know something about Tony. Peter tried to bite his tongue, but when he finally got the pills swallowed, he spoke anyway.

"Mr. Stark told me the story about how you saved him."  _Smooth, Peter. That definitely didn't make it sound like you're hero-worshiping him or something._

Doctor Strange raised his eyebrow again and took a seat at his desk, crossing one leg over the other and motioning for Peter to sit in the chair across from him, which he did.

"And what,  _exactly,_ did Mr. Stark tell you." Strange emphasized the word which made Peter nervous. He wondered if there was some reason he wasn't supposed to know this, or some detail Tony had left out that Strange didn't want to accidentally spill.

"Just that he had his accident and you performed the surgery." Peter said simply, leaving out just a few extra bits that he knew. He didn't want to make it seem like Tony and him had had an emotional sharing moment or something, just that it came up once when they were working on the cars.

"Go on." Strange implored, seeming to know that Peter was holding back something.

Once again, Peter tried not to say anything that would be considered oversharing, to say anything that would hint and him knowing Tony personally, to say anything that would just flat out incriminate them. "He also said that he had plans to fix it himself, but he had to act faster than he could afford. He said that it was the last surgery you did before your... Accident." Peter struggled with the last word, he'd never heard the exact details surrounding Doctor Strange's accident, and he certainly didn't want to make it appear that he did.

"I see." He said and for a moment Peter thought that was the end of their conversation and that he was expected to leave at that time. "Did  _Mr. Stark_ tell you the details regarding either of our accidents?" He questioned finally, looking directly into Peter's eyes, imploring him to slip up.

The truth was that Tony hadn't, but Peter struggled with how Strange had said 'Mr. Stark,' something about it sounded accusatory. It sounded like Strange suspected something. "No. I don't know anything about them."

Strange stood up then, it was a flourishing movement and then with a complicated feat of coordination that Peter could barely follow, he had put a coat on, the same one from the picture on his desk. "I believe I'll step out for a smoke, follow me out Peter."

Pete didn't really want to follow him, but it wasn't really a question, so he did anyway.

The hallways were dark again, darker now than they were before since the sun had gone down. He hadn't pictured Dr. Strange as a smoker, but he also hadn't pictured him as a music fanatic, so Peter was learning lots of things today.

"You and Mr. Stark rebuilt that car together?" He asked, even though the answer was obvious, Peter had already said it in fewer words earlier.

"Uh, yeah, yeah we did. Right in the parking lot." He felt that the ending was forced, that he just wanted to make sure Strange  _knew_ that they hadn't gotten up to anything funny in those early days, not really.

"And then he drove you home when you had that domestic crisis." Strange commented and Peter didn't like the way he'd said it. It sounded cold, medical, not like how it actually had been.

"S'pose he did." Peter agreed, simply because it was common knowledge, any of his other teachers could confirm this, Tony would even readily do that.

"And Winter break?" He stated again, and Peter didn't even fully process it before he was answering.

"Yeah--no, no. Mr. Stark didn't drive me home on Winter break." He said but Strange seemed to have gotten exactly what he was trying to get.

When they exited the school he lit a cigarette and walked away from Peter without saying anything else.

Peter felt an anxious pit in his stomach forming.

* * *

"Hey Peter's back!" Drax announced when he walked into the common room. It was a Saturday night so all of the boys were still sitting around shooting the breeze when he got there. The small television was on, playing some rerun of  _Parks and Recreation._

"Yep, not dead." He joked and took a seat on the couch in between Steve and Thor. Usually he wouldn't bother with them, with socializing when he was just tired. But he didn't want to be alone with his thoughts right now, didn't want to have to sit in his room and pretend that everything was going to be okay, because realistically it probably wasn't.

"Does it hurt?" Loki asked, looking bored from his seat on the ground, leaning against one of the arm chairs. The kid that Peter roomed with last year sat next to Loki, a little too close for it to be platonic.

"Nope, Strange got me some pain killers, I feel fine honestly." He said with a shrug, and showed off his ridiculous black Velcro brace to the team.

"Thank God, we could stand to lose you." Loki said dismally and Peter sighed. Just one more thing to deal with was this ridiculous team.

Pete stood up off the couch. There were only a few people in the room who weren't actually in the soccer team, so he felt safe turning the TV off without getting too many boos. "Alright, here's the deal. The new people, I  _know_ that you guys don't want new additions to the team. I totally get that, and I understand why. You're worried that you're going to have to get benched. I'm not going to try to say that I would never bench you guys, because I'm going to have to. We're getting a goalie, a center, and a striker. That  _means_ Loki, Scott, Paul, and TC, you guys are all at risk for being benched a game or two. Unlike Loki seems to think, it's not the end of the world, so if you guys could just keep your shit over this, that'd be great."

Peter clicked the button to turn the TV back on, not really accepting comments on what he'd just said. It was the truth, and they could ague all they wanted, it wasn't going to change what was happening.

He felt a tap on his shoulder and saw that it was Quill who leaned down and whispered in Peter's ear. "Hey, can we talk in my room?"

Pete sighed but nodded and stood up, following Quill off to his dorm.

Inside was incredibly messy, clothing everywhere, no definite line between the clutter of one roommate and another, the whole room made Peter very anxious.

"What's up Quill?" He asked, adding this conversation to the growing list of things he didn't want to deal with.

"Look, Pete, I totally get where you're coming from, with wanting to let everyone know what's what and shit. But, I think that you need to be talking up the existing team a little more. You totally just made everyone nervous that you're gonna kick them or something if the new people are better than them." Quill rushed out.

That was absolutely  _not_ what Peter had just done. He wiped his face with a hand and took a deep breath.

"You know what, if they wanted to take it that way.  _Fine._ I'm not going to deal with a bunch of little kids whining about playing games right now. This is about winning state, not keeping fucking Loki happy." He stressed.

Quill opened his mouth to speak again but Peter shook his head.

"No Quill, that's all. Thanks for the advice, but it's not helpful right now."

Peter felt slightly bad when he turned around and left Quill standing in the middle of his shit hole room, but he didn't dwell on it. Quill was just trying to captain him since he didn't think Peter was up to it, but if there was one thing that  _really_ wasn't stressing Peter at the moment, that was soccer.

Once in the hallway he leaned against the wood panels and pulled his phone out. Tony hadn't sent him many texts in the last few days, and when he pulled open the conversation it was almost barren after he'd wiped everything that had been in there.

**Sent: Tony 8:45 pm.**

> I think someone's onto us.

That's all he said, no specifics, no nothing. He didn't want to explain that whole thing tonight and he wouldn't. It wasn't like the cops would be showing up at Tony's door off of completely circumstantial evidence Strange could give him, so they were sage for now.

He walked toward his room, on the other side of the building and walking towards him he saw a face that he hadn't seen, or really payed attention to for the past few months.

Erik was walking out of his own room, dressed like he was going to a party, which he probably was.

They made eye contact and Erik did was Peter least expected him to do, he flashed one of his huge, brilliant smiles at Peter and paused.

"Hey Pete, how you holding up?" He asked and Peter faltered for a moment, trying to regain his bearings and adding  _yet another_ thing to his ever growing list of 'things he didn't want to deal with,' it was really quite long at this point.

"Uh hey Erik, I'm fine. Just tired." He responded and made to keep walking but Erik grabbed him by the shoulder, not tight, just affirming.

"You don't really look fine. You look stressed Pete." Erik quirked his lips to the side and Peter just shook his head.

"No, I'm not. Just tired." And he pulled out of Erik's grip, walking down towards him room.

It was weird, that someone who knew him so well could be such a stranger at this point. He hadn't spoken to Erik in a  _long_ time. He didn't really think he was going to start now, but it was pretty nice of Erik to pick up on the fact that he wasn't feeling well. Then Peter viscerally remembered Erik's hand striking his face and he let go of that train of thought, he wouldn't think about Erik now when he just had to worry about Tony.

There was a response from Tony when he got to his room.

**Received: Tony 9:01 pm.**

> What? Peter, call me right now.

Pete ignored the text message in favor of falling asleep.


	13. Strange II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You guys are so sweet with your comments, love you xoxo.  
>  -this chapter is told from Tony's perspective :)

**Received: Peter 8:45 pm.**

> I think someone's onto us.

Tony had been under one of his cars, his back aching from working all day when he heard his phone ping. He ignored it for a couple minutes, working instead on his newest car. It wasn't in as bad of shape as the first one he and Peter had fixed up, but he still wanted to ask the kid for help.

He'd been a little distant from Peter in the past few days, regretting his actions a bit over the phone. That was  _real_ evidence of what they were doing, and he was extremely worried that someone would see the messages.

Finally sliding out from under the car, Tony grabbed his phone and turned it on, scanning the message from Peter.

He felt his stomach drop.

 _No._ He thought to himself, trying to flat out deny what could be happening. It was inevitable of course that they would be found out, they couldn't live in a fairy tale romance forever, not even for the year until Peter was 18 and Tony was no longer his teacher.

Tony would go to jail, Peter would be ostracized and deemed as a 'risk' for colleges. Both of their lives would be completely ruined.

**Sent: Peter 9:01 pm.**

> What? Peter, call me right now.

He hoped that he conveyed a sense of urgency to Peter, but the kid didn't respond, which left Tony even more on edge.

He sucked his lips into his mouth, covered in grease, wondering if he should duck back under the car again or go drink until he forgot about how fucking stupid he was, Tony opted for the latter.

On his way out of the garage his phone pinged again, and once again he opted not to check it for a moment. And then there was another ping, two unread messages. Tony really didn't want to deal with this right now.

His kitchen cabinets were empty except for a bottle of whiskey, which he pulled down and poured into a glass, unprofessionally full, and downed it quickly.

**Received: Nat 9:12 pm.**

> Hey, you seemed off yesterday. Everything alright? Wanna come over and we can order a pizza or something?

**Received: Bruce 9:15 pm.**

> Working on some stuff for our project. Want me to bring you the notes?

Tony could immediately tell that both of them wanted to check on his well-being, it was just that Bruce was being a lot more covert about it. Tony was not going to take them up on those offers, so he grabbed the bottle and his laptop before heading upstairs.

His room was a mess, clothing littering the ground, empty bottles on the ground, Tony kicked one on his way to bed. He'd been doing good recently, only having one stiff drink a night, but this was a weird night. And weird nights called for lots of drinking.

To top it all off, he had some things he was supposed to get in to Pepper by the end of the night, and it was rapidly coming to a close.

**Sent: Nat 9:30 pm.**

> I'm gonna hit the sack. Next time.

**Sent: Bruce 9:31 pm.**

> I'll check them out on Monday! Thanks Bruce.

He set his phone aside, not bothering to charge it or set an alarm, he would undoubtedly wake up within four hours of falling asleep anyway.

He opened his lap top and leaned against the pillows on his bed, realizing that he was still wearing his dirty jeans and t-shirt, but not having the energy to care. He had two new emails from Pepper.

 **Sent: Virginia Potts**  
Recipient: Tony Stark  
1/11/18

**Subject: _Schedule._**

> Am I still expecting you in New York for the week of March 4th? You have a press conference on the 6th at noon in the Stark building. On the 7th you're expected to take a tour of the new labs you just bought upstate, as we talked about near Christmas.
> 
> Best,  
> Pepper.

**Sent: Virginia Potts  
** **Recipient: Tony Stark**  
1/11/18

**Subject: _Investors._**

> We have a new investor from an undisclosed branch of the Government, Nick Fury. I explained that you are no longer manufacturing weapons, but he still seems interested and wants to meet with you while you are in New York.
> 
> Best,  
> Pepper.

Tony mused over the emails for a moment, he needed to respond to them. He'd never even met Pepper in real life, but he'd already established that she was near neurotic about getting things finished.

He set the bottle, near half empty to the side table and started his response.

**Sent: Tony Stark  
** **Recipient: Virginia Potts  
** **1/11/18**

**Subject: _Answers._**

> I'll be there, no worries. I will be flying in near three in the morning on the 5th, my arrival requires the utmost discretion as I may be bringing someone with me, and under no circumstances can we be photographed together.
> 
> I know Nick, take him on as an investor but make sure he doesn't have  _too_ much of the company.
> 
> -Tony.

She would have more questions in the morning, but Tony could leave those for the morning.

He would have to leave a lot of things for the morning, since Peter still hadn't contacted him.

* * *

They had a teachers meeting at three in the afternoon on a Sunday, which was simply tedious.

Natasha went over the semester exam schedule, explaining that she needed to review their tests, whatever, whatever, Tony wasn't really paying attention. Teaching for him was just something to do during the day, he didn't particularly care about how well he did it.

"Hey Tony, let's talk for a minute." She said as everyone else trickled out of the room.

He shoved his hands in his pockets and went to stand in front of her, feeling very much like a student who was in trouble. "What's up Nat?"

"There's something wrong. Tony if this new boyfriend of yours is getting you all torn up like this then... I don't know, but it's not cool." She scolded, Tony knew that she had his best interests in mind, but she was still kind of treating him like a child.

"No it's not about him, it's about the new company. I'll try to be in a better mood, you're already being understanding enough with everything that's gonna happen in the spring." He assured and she pointed him with a stern look, but neither of them were good at talking about feelings unless they were drunk and tired, so the conversation ended at that, Tony just turning to awkwardly walk out of the room.

He ran his hand through his hair and leaned against the wall for a minute. Natasha knew that he had a boyfriend, most of his 'friends' did. They just had no idea who his boyfriend was.

Peter Parker, the current source of all stress in his life, but at the same time the only joy he was getting. Over Christmas break his mind had been made-up that Peter was exactly who he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. He just wasn't sure if Peter felt the same. Pete was just a kid, and dating Tony was a risk, he worried that that was the only reason Peter was still interested in him.

He also worried that the cons of this relationship were outweighing the pros.

Tony decided to head out, go grab a coffee and maybe work on his car some more. He would have to call Peter at some point in the day if the kid didn't contact him first. He supposed he could just go find Pete in the dorms next door and make up something about homework, but if someone really was onto them, that would probably be a horrible idea.

So he walked towards the far exit of the school, planning on dialing Pete's number as soon as he got out. At least since it was Sunday Peter could meet him somewhere so they could talk.

When he walked past the infirmary, Strange was sitting at his desk in the main room, not his office, and their eyes met. Tony haltered in his walking and Strange stood up.

"Tony, exactly who I wanted to see, can we talk in my office?" He walked closer to Tony and Tony took a step back before squaring his shoulders and nodding. He didn't really want to talk with Strange right now, he wanted to get to the bottom of what was going on with Peter, not shoot the fucking breeze with Strange.

"Yeah sure." He agreed lacklusterly and followed Strange into his office, feeling weirdly like he was in trouble or something. He took a seat across from Strange, making sure to keep his posture casual, not seeming like he was trying to get out of there or anything.

Strange didn't speak for a moment, just studied Tony's face, which made him all the more uncomfortable. "Peter Parker sprained his wrist last night."

Tony could't help the brief look of worry that crossed his face, but he tried to school it immediately. "Oh, he's in my classes, is he alright?" He tried to cover for his momentary lapse.

There was another pause and Tony began to shrink back in the chair, but bolstered himself and refused to feel small next to Strange, so he sat upright again, crossing one leg over the other. "He's fine,  _very_ interested in your personal life though. Almost felt like he was trying to get me to tell him your secrets. Now as I see it there's only two possibilities for this. Either he's mad at you and trying to seek revenge, or, and this is the more likely possibility, there's something not entirely legal going on between you two."

Tony was instantly trying to cover for them. "What you're implying is absolutely disgusting Steven, sure Parker and I have spoken some times outside of school hours, but that doesn't mean by any sense of the word that we're doing illicit activities."

"Oh see, but Peter  _told_ me that you spent winter break with him." Strange let the side of his mouth curl up in a half grin. It was like Strange was a cat, and Tony was a pinned mouse.

Tony didn't believe that Peter would have told him that, there was no way he would have given up something as incriminating as that. "A blatant lie."

"But it wasn't a lie. He accidentally let it slip and then tried to cover for himself. Now, am I supposed to believe that you two were just, I don't know, fixing another car together?" Strange asked incredulously and Tony leaned back in his seat, running a hang through his hair.

"No, no, I'm not going to treat you like you're dumb Steven, so I'm just going to ask you outright: what do you want from me? What can I do to make you forget about all of this?" There was no point in denying it, Strange obviously already knew basically everything.

Strange sat back in his chair for a moment, thinking. As if this wasn't exactly where he wanted the conversation to go.

"A job, in your new company." He finally said.

Tony mused over this for a moment, but Strange butted in again before he could say anything else.

"And not something shitty, I can't be a neurosurgeon again, but I'm still a doctor."

Tony nodded minutely, and then once again in agreement. "Yes, that's fine. I could put you up in our new lab, you'd be making at least double what you make here. You could start as six months. But is that really all you want?" Tony was kind of baffled, Strange really wasn't asking for a lot, he may have even considered hiring the man without it being blackmail.

"That's all. Really Tony you think I  _care_ about what you and Peter are getting up to? If it doesn't involve me I wouldn't usually make myself involved." Strange scoffed at Tony's apparent idiocy.

"Ah, so glad your ego wasn't hurt in the car crash." Tony said with a dramatic roll of his eyes. "Hey what exactly did you say to Pete?" He questioned, standing up and preparing to leave.

"Not much, I just had a hunch so I asked him if you spent winter break with him, his mouth reacted before his mind did and voila, a confession." Strange stood up as well, seemingly to see Tony to the door.

The walked through the empty infirmary in silence but when the reached the door to the hallway, Strange put his hand on Tony's shoulder. "Tony, my currently avowed silence on the matter does not mean I'll protect you if the law comes into play." Strange warned.

"Yeah, got it." Was the last thing Tony said.

"Neither does it mean I condone what you're doing." Strange added and Tony had a feeling that even though Tony was about to walk away, their conversation was far from over.

"You think I'm doing anything Peter doesn't want? I'm not coercing him, if that's what you think." Tony made sure to say. Tony had made sure that this was true throughout their entire relationship. Peter was young, yes, but if that kid ever said 'no,' then Tony would respect that.

"He's seventeen Tony. Just think about it." And then Strange closed the door to the infirmary, just barely missing Tony's nose with it.

He took a step back with an indignant huff and turned down the hallway, heading outside.

Pulling out his phone, Tony shot off a quick text to Peter.

**Sent: Peter 4:00 pm.**

> Call me.

Tony didn't receive a response, but he didn't really expect to either.

* * *

Out in the parking lot, Tony was preparing to head home, unlocking his car and getting all the way in before there was a banging on his window, and the frowning face of Scott Lang staring down at him.

Tony tried to compose himself, pushed his sunglasses back up through his hair.

"What's up Scott?" He asked, keeping things calm, casual. He couldn't really be sure what Scott needed, they only had one class together, and the kid was doing just fine.

"You know, it's funny. Pete mentioned this new guy he was seeing that wore stupid sunglasses all the time, didn't know they were your stupid sunglasses. Well, he didn't call them stupid, but they still are." He said, rather impetuously, and Tony got out of the car, forcing Scott to take a step back.

"What?" Is all Tony asked, pushing the car door closed behind him and blinking his eyes a few times, almost making sure that what was happening was real.

"I overheard you and Doctor Strange talking. I know what's up between you and Pete." Scott said, a little more coherently this time. Scott looked mad though, his fists were clenched and his jaw was tight. This wasn't Scott's usual demeanor.

"Let's go talk about this somewhere else." Tony tried to urge them out of the parking lot, where anyone else could stumble by. Apparently exactly that had happened in the school just moments ago.

"Naw, I'm good right here. Just, why? Why could you possibly want to date Pete?" Scott demanded, Tony was almost tempted to take a step back, but the car was behind him.

"I have no reason to explain that to you if you're just going to tell everyone anyway." There was no reason for Scott to keep this a secret, if he was this mad about the prospect of him and Peter being together, then he would probably have no qualms about breaking them up and sending Tony to prison.

"I'm not gonna tell everyone man, I mean Pete's seemed kinda happier recently, especially when we're talking about his 'new boyfriend.' But something happened, did you fucking do something to piss him off? Because he's off the fucking wall right now." Scott explained, it was still volatile and slightly hostile but he seemed to be loosing some of his gusto as they spoke.

"No, I don't think so. He texted me something weird last night and then hasn't been returning any of my texts. What do you mean he's 'off the wall?'" Tony questioned, but he doubted Scott would give him straight answers.

"What did he text you? How weird was it? Was it about Erik?" Scott deflated some more, realizing that Tony might not actually be the source of all Peter's problems.

"He just said that someone might be onto us. No explanation. And no, it wasn't about Erik. What's going on Scott?" Tony was determined to get answers at this point. Peter acting weird and Erik were never a good combination.

"He stormed in last night after visiting Strange in the infirmary, yelled at the team, then yelled at Quill, and all day today he's just been moping around in his room. But  _then_ TC told us all that he and Erik talked last night, or something. I don't really know since Peter won't talk to anyone." Scott finally gave him an explanation that was starting to lead somewhere.

Tony was going to say something, but then Scott started speaking again. "Can you just, I don't know, go in there and check on him or something?"

"Uh, no Scott I can't. I really wish I could go check on him, but basically if he isn't responding to my messages, that's as far as I can get." Tony saw realization dawning on Scott's face.

"Yeah, that's fair. Do you think Doctor Strange was the one that was onto you guys? That he texted you about?" Scott asked and Tony sighed again.

"I don't know Scott, I seem to know less than you at the moment. Listen, do you think Peter is seriously in a crisis?" Tony wouldn't beat around the bush, if Peter needed help then he would pull some strings and get something figured out.

"No, no it's not that serious. I just don't know what wrong with him and I figured that now that I know you're his fancy boyfriend or whatever, you might know something." Scott had released the tension in his neck now, his fist were slack against his sides. He'd obviously lost his energy.

"Alright, I assume that Strange was the one Peter was worried about then. Can you just, I don't know, go tell him that everything's going to be okay? Tell him that Strange and I figured it out. And then tell him to call me." Tony didn't want to shock Peter by him finding out that both Strange and Scott knew, but he also didn't want Peter to suffer by not knowing.

"Yeah, I can do that. Just, Mr. Stark, one more thing. Don't hurt Peter or whatever. He's got the whole soccer team to kill you if you do. Your relationships already a bit fucked up ya know but-"

Tony cut him off. "Just quit while you're ahead Scott."

Scott nodded, "sounds good, I'll talk to Peter, see ya." He said before walking away back towards the school, and Tony finally slipped into his car to drive away.

* * *

**Sent: Natasha 8:48 pm.**

> help, new boyfriend isn't responding to my texts and he's been acting weird for a little while.

Tony didn't actually  _want_ to ask Natasha for advice, but she was the only 'girl' that he knew. Barton and Banner couldn't give relationship advice, talking to Coulson about it would just be  _weird,_ and Strange was out for obvious reasons. So that left his only female friend.

**Received: Natasha 8:55 pm.**

> Have you tried fucking him? Isn't that how you solve all relationship problems?

**Sent: Natasha 8:56 pm.**

> Ha ha, very funny. For real though, I don't know how to deal with emotions like this.

Tony rolled his eyes and set the phone down for a moment for he could try and focus on work. He had about a million new emails from Pepper that he tried to respond to all in one huge response. He also had to deal with some Japanese businessman, Fujikawa, already trying to form a merger between their two companies. Tony would let that ferment for a few years before he gave a definitive answer.

**Received: Natasha 9:01 pm.**

> Well, how's he acting 'weird'?

**Sent: Natasha 9:03 pm.**

> Not sure to be honest, one of his friends told me that he was weird. I haven't seen him in a few days.

Tony hadn't received a phone call from Peter, and he wasn't really sure how to take that. It didn't necessarily mean that Scott had failed in his quest, but on the other hand that might mean that Peter was mad at him for some reason.

**Received: Natasha 9:08 pm.**

> this is all really vague tony. idk, make some time to see him and talk to him. Do something spontaneous. Maybe he's just getting bored?

**Sent: Natasha 9:10 pm.**

> Thanks tash, goodnight.

**Received: Natasha 9:12 pm.**

> I don't really think I helped you, but you're welcome. Night.

She was right, she hadn't helped him a ton, but she gave him the idea to make Peter talk to him in person if he couldn't get him over message. He could always ask Peter to talk to him after class, it would seem weird if he denied a teacher that.

Tony wondered if he was too worried about all of this, and maybe Peter was just being a moody hormonal teenager. Part of him wanted to believe that all of this would blow over, but another part reminded him that Peter was mature, that was one of the reasons they were together, and he wouldn't just fly solo like this unless there was a good reason. Maybe Tony himself was the reason, he couldn't really tell.

He decided to send one last text to Peter before he went to bed.

**Sent: Peter 9:20 pm.**

> Goodnight Petey. You're my favorite.

He left it at that, wanting to reaffirm Peter of the relationship and not try and get answers out of him at the moment. Maybe this had all just been some crazy fling and Peter was trying to think of a way to break off their relationship. He couldn't say he would blame the kid, Tony was old and not really all that exciting to be around. He could offer Peter financial stability, but Pete didn't even seem all that interested in it. Tony could just be some passing fad to be forgotten about.

But Tony wouldn't wholeheartedly believe that until Peter had said it to his face. They'd shared too many raw moments together, too many insightful conversations for it to all be some weird one off. Peter obviously wasn't in it just to get money from Tony, or to get a better grade in his class. In fact, Peter didn't seem to  _want_ anything from Tony except for his company, and he didn't even have that at the moment.

They'd dodged some major bullets today, and Tony would understand if Peter wanted to cool things off or take a bit of a break. Tony had even suggested that they deleted their texts, which had been hard for him since they had so many memories stored in there. However, for now it seemed like things were going to table again, like maybe everything would be smooth again. They could get through the next few months, have a relaxing spring break, and then Peter could graduate and things could become more real between them.

Tony imagined taking Peter all over the world, working on projects together, solving things. He didn't just want Peter for his body or anything superficial like that. Even if Peter never wanted to touch him again, Tony could still imagine a life with him.

Finally, right before Tony was about to fall asleep, he got a response.

**Received: Peter 9:50 pm.**

> Goodnight Tony. See you tomorrow.

And it didn't make Tony feel any better.


	14. With Great Power

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Will Peter and Tony ever just fucking talk to each other???? The answer is NO! Not in this chapter. :) Also they will keep sending each other vaguely passive aggressive texts!! It's awesome.  
> Also I know that homecoming is usually at the end of march?? or something i don't know, but for our sake it's in early january i guess.

**Received: Erik 3:15 pm.**

> Wanna get some coffee after school today?

Peter stared down at the message on his phone, raising one eyebrow and puzzling over it. First of all, it was a Monday afternoon so they weren't allowed to leave campus, second of all,  _Erik_ had just asked him this. Erik the douche.

He pocketed his phone for just a minute and tossed his book bag unceremoniously onto his bed.

Tony had been an ass today. Well not really, Peter considered the fact that  _maybe_ he was being the ass. Tony had asked him to stay after class and Peter had refused, stating that he didn't have the time, which had apparently warranted a barrage of texts from the man asking him if he was okay, if he needed anything, etc, etc.. Peter didn't want to deal with it.

Scott had told him that Tony resolved the situation with Strange, for which Peter was grateful, but that just added another layer to his misery, that now Scott knew he was dating Tony. Things were getting confusing for him, fast. Peter was having a hard time keeping up with whether or not continuing his relationship with Tony was in both of their best interests.

Of course he wanted to be with Tony for _ever,_ but currently the most rational thing would seem to be calling it quits for a few months until Peter graduated and things were a little less weird.

Desperately though, Peter didn't want to do that. He really did want to keep seeing Tony, even if it was in secret. He was just so fucking  _confused_ at the moment that it was near impossible for him to think straight.

He pulled his phone back out of his pocket, intent on writing something to Tony, to try and clear up the air of misunderstanding surrounding them, but instead he found Erik's message still waiting for a reply, and he focused on that instead.

**Sent: Erik 3:23 pm.**

> It's a Monday afternoon? But okay haha.

Pete couldn't really say what drove him to agree to hang out with Erik. He wanted to hear what the man had to say after all this time, but he also desperately didn't want to spend time with Erik, so he was at a stalemate. The words he sent, however, spoke for his turmoiled mind.

Catching up with Erik wouldn't be bad, especially if they were in a populated area surrounded by plenty of people so Erik couldn't attempt to hit him again. Peter wasn't really sure if he could take another one of Erik's muscled slaps.

Pete pulled open his chat log with Tony, the mans last few frantically kind texts sitting stagnant, waiting for him to respond. He was halfway through typing one word when there was a knock at the door, Pete tossed his phone to the side and called "come in."

Scott walked in, looking curiously at Peter with his phone precariously at the edge of the bed from where he'd softly thrown it, but shook his head, obviously not caring. "Hey, did you call, you know who?" Scott asked, wiggling his brows and then amending himself. "Wait, that sounds like Voldemort, we need a better code word Pete."

"No, I didn't call  _Tony,_ and seriously Scott, no ones going to make the connection. I just don't know what to say to him." Peter explained and Scott pulled out the rolling chair from Peter's desk, taking a seat and absent-mindedly swiveling himself back and forth.

"Why don't you just tell him how you feel?" Scott suggested innocently, shrugging his shoulders comically high.

"How do I feel Scott?" Pete questioned, running a hand through his hair and flopping back on the bed with an undignified pouting noise. Scott would be no help, he couldn't be any help. He still didn't understand the intricacies of his and Tony's relationship. About how the two functioned as a unit. About how, really, truly, utterly, Peter didn't know how he felt.

"You like him a lot." Scott suggested introspectively.

Pete could only manage a groan of annoyance.

"Oh, you like him a  _lot._ " Scott amended.

"Yes Scott! We've established that I like him. Moving on." Peter quipped, sounding harsh to his own ears but Scott just laughed at him.

"So just tell him that you're a moody idiot who needed a little space." Scott offered up, taking a seat on Pete's bed and handing him his phone.

Peter stared down at his phone, not really feeling like sending Tony a text now. "That's dumb. That sounds dumb."

Scott pulled the phone out of Peter's hands, "here I'll handle the diplomacy." Scott offered and Peter vainly tried to snatch his phone back, but gave up quickly, just accepting that Scott would say whatever and things would work out.

"Hey what's this?" Scott asked and before Peter could pull the phone away he was reading a new message aloud. "Yeah, I know, we can always sneak out haha. Wanna meet me at five?" Scott stopped reading the text and looked up at Peter. "Erik Pete? Really? You're going to go out with  _Erik,_ your piece of shit ex boyfriend, while your seemingly awesome current boyfriend has been moping around all day worried that you're not into him anymore?" Scott accused.

"No, no, it's not like that. Erik asked if I would go get coffee with him, I think he just wants to catch up." Peter took his phone back and stood up, preparing to go down to the track and run a few laps.

"In the wise words of Peter Parker: 'That's dumb. That sounds dumb.'" Scott mocked and Peter gave him a comical sneer.

"Just shut it Scott, everything will get figured out." Peter assured and began to change into his sweat pants, not minding that Scott was still sitting on the bed, since they had to change in the locker rooms all the time.

Scott stood up and put a hand on Peter's shoulder. "No Peter, everything won't get figured out unless you actively  _try_ to figure it out. You hold all the power right now Pete, over whether or not you hang out with Erik, over Tony's emotions, hell, over the whole soccer team. So just remember that--" Pete cut Scott off.

"That with great power comes great responsibility." Pete echoed the voice of his uncle Ben, the set of morals that he'd stood by, and adapted Peter to stand by.

"I was going to say 'don't fuck it up' but that's better, much more poetic. Alright Pete catch ya later." Scott said and swung out of the room, leaving Peter confused and hopeless.

* * *

"Looking sharp Petey, as usual." Erik commented. Peter really wasn't, he was still wearing his running clothes and there were sweat stains under his arms on the tee shirt.

"Uh, yeah sure. Anyway, what's your grand plan to get out of here?" Peter questioned. There was always someone manning the front gate, really to make sure that no one was getting in who wasn't supposed to, but also so that students didn't just randomly leave.

"Oh there's a spot past the soccer field where's the fence is wide enough to slip through." Erik noted and motioned for Peter to follow him. The section directly past the field was full of trees, so it made sense that no cameras or anything would be there.

"Wow, the things you learned while not hanging with the team." Peter commented.

Erik gave a shrug, a noncommital answer and Peter realized it was probably because he had brought up the team at all. It must be pretty awkward for Erik now that he wasn't on it, though that would never be subject to change.

"So where are we going?" Pete asked, slipping through a gap in the fence behind Erik and onto the sidewalk, facing a busy street.

"I was thinking that coffee shop down that road that we used to go to all the time." He suggested.

There was one that Peter remembered, it was a small shop and they had maybe gone there a handful of times not  _all the time._ It wasn't like it was special to them in any way, but Peter didn't question it, just walked beside Erik in relative silence until they reached it.

He still hadn't texted Tony, and really needed to do that.

"Are you still seeing that guy?" Erik asked and it took Peter a moment to realize he was referring to whoever had given him the hickeys all that time ago. Tony.

"Yeah, we're still together." He saw no point in denying it, and Erik had asked anyway.

"Does he go to our school?" At this point they were nearing the coffee shop, Erik held open the door for Peter when they got there and Peter sighed.

"Uh, no. He doesn't." Erik seemed to drop it for a moment as they ordered their drinks and took a seat in the corner in the back of the shop. Peter didn't really want to answer a bunch of questions about Tony at the moment.

"Is he in Alexandria then?" Erik continued the line of questioning. He knew that Peter still had a few friends back there that he would talk about sometimes, not that Erik had ever cared to meet Michelle or Ned.

"Yeah. Back home." Peter lied smoothly.

Erik didn't respond for a moment, and then got up when their names were called for the drinks, leaving Peter alone for just a moment.

He pulled his phone out and typed a fast text to Tony.

**Sent: Tony 5:32 pm.**

> Hey sorry things are weird recently. We'll talk soon.

He hoped that was reassuring enough, as he had to put his phone down after that, not wanting to seem rude to Erik, like he was ignoring him for his new boyfriend.

"I wanted to apologize." Erik said almost as soon as he sat back down, passing Peter his cup and clasping his hands on the table in front of him.

Peter just gave him an inquisitive look, not commenting just yet. Obviously, Peter knew what he wanted to apologize for, but Pete was going to let Erik do his own talking, to owe up to what he'd done.

"For how I reacted when I saw those hickeys on you. I mean,  _obviously,_ it was uncool of you to cheat on me. But mainly it was uncool of me to hit you." Erik said. Even though he'd said it in the most stupid way possible, he still sounded genuine, and Peter appreciated that.

"I'm not going to say it's okay." Peter said and took a deep breath. "But I'm willing to look past it if you still want to be friends or something." He finally said. And it was true, he would rather be friends with Erik than for things to just be super awkward between them.

"That's fine, I didn't expect you to forgive me or anything. We just used to be so close, and I at least wanted some of that back." He explained and Peter could understand that. He'd thought almost that same thing a few days ago when they'd passed each other in the hall.

If Erik was really willing to try and be better than Pete would be here for it. It would probably just make Erik even more of a douche if he tried to ignore him.

There was a buzzing from his pocket and Pete realized it must be a response from Tony, so he excused himself to the bathroom and walked over to it, shutting the door and locking it before he pulled his phone out.

**Received: Tony 5:40 pm.**

> I have an emergency board meeting in Los Angeles, I'll be back around the seventeenth. Talk then.

And that text was  _far_ from reassuring. It was so cold and lifeless, it was businesslike. Peter didn't like it.

Peter stayed in the bathroom for probably far to long trying to think of a response to Tony, something that would sound genuine.

**Sent: Tony 5:45 pm.**

> Sounds boring, wish I could have gone with you.

It was a stretch, didn't even really sound like something he would say, but Peter figured it conveyed his point.

**Received: Tony 5:46 pm.**

> That would have been a bad decision.

And there it was, the text that completely destroyed any hope Peter help onto that maybe their relationship was still simmering. It was like Tony was on alert, trying to make sure that nothing inappropriate happened.

Obviously Peter knew that would have been a terrible idea, they would have been found out for sure. But  _still,_ it was a fucking joke. The sentiment of the thing was the true meaning, not Tony taking it literal.

Peter shoved his phone back into his pocket and went out to the cafe again.

He wanted to go back to the dorms, lay down on his bed and sob, or run for the rest of the evening, or just take a fucking nap.

Worst of all, Tony would be gone  _all_ week. The remaining four days they would have a stupid substitute teacher who didn't care about the classes and who didn't care about Peter. Not that it seemed like Tony really cared about Peter right now.

There was another vibration in Pete's pocket, but he didn't check it.

"Hey, Scott's girlfriend broke up with him, he's really torn up. Hate to do this, but could we head back?" Peter lied, wanting a reason to leave. Scott didn't even have a girlfriend, but Erik wouldn't know that now that he wasn't on the team.

"Yeah of course!" Erik said and stood from his seat, pushing the chair in and motioning for Peter to lead them onward.

There wasn't practice tonight, they didn't have practice some Mondays and nobody had been feeling it since Peter had yelled at them all yesterday. Peter was glad for that, he didn't want to have to go deal with all of them at the moment.

They walked in contented silence for most of the way back, Peter taking in the sights of the bustling city around them. Neither of them were wearing their uniforms, so at least no one would call a truancy officer on them.

"Hey Pete uh, can I ask you a question?" Erik asked.

That was the worst possible way to phrase a question, but Peter allowed it anyway. "Yeah sure, go ahead." He said, but dreaded what was about to come out of Erik's mouth. It was going to be something dumb, or something that pried into his personal life.

"I was just wondering, since you know, your boyfriend lives in Alexandria and all. Would you, and you can say no of course, just, would you want to go to homecoming with me?" And that was the number one thing that Peter had  _least_ expected from Erik.

The local public high school let kids from Cantu and girls from the Catholic school across town to go to their prom and homecoming, but Peter hadn't actually considered going. Most of the guys were going to go, rumor had it they were even going to finally meet Quill's rumored girlfriend.

"Um I don't know Erik. Let me think about it?" Peter asked as they slipped back onto school grounds, walking across the soccer field towards the dorms.

"That's totally cool! Just let me know soon so I can buy the tickets-- or not, no biggie." He said with a grin.

"Sounds good." Peter agreed and then Erik jogged off to the main school building for something while Peter continued up into the dorms, his mind made up to just go take a nap for the next four days till Tony got back. He just wanted to talk and find out if they were outstadingly terrible at communicating over text, or if maybe they really were just falling apart.

The main room was pretty dead for a Monday night, but they had a project due in Barton's class tomorrow that most kids had procrastinated over the weekend, so he figured everyone was working on homework. Peter had it done.

Scott was sitting on the couch, watching  _Scrubs_ reruns and Peter took a seat on the couch next to him, maybe he could just fall asleep there.

"Hey Petey." Scott said, but seemed more interested in the tv show.

Pete made a nondistinct noise and pulled his phone out of his pocket, deleting the notification of Tony's text before he even read it and opening Erik's chat.

**Sent: Erik 6:12 pm.**

> Homecoming sounds great.

There, he did it. He agreed to go to a dance with  _Erik._

It wasn't that bad. He couldn't even go with Tony in the first place, so if he'd wanted to go he'd need a date and Erik was as good of one as any. Erik knew that he had a boyfriend and seemed to respect that, so they were just going with friend.

"Oh hey, Thor has this lesbian friend from the Catholic school and she wants a date to homecoming so Thor told her that he knew this single gay guy and maybe they could go as like a friends thing, and anyway that was you. So do you want to go to prom with this lesbian chick?" Scott rambled off.

"I understood every word you said separately, but together that made no sense." Peter joked, raising his eyebrows. Scott had a habit of losing the point in the middle of his ramblings and then rushing to find it at the end. "And I already have a date for homecoming anyway."

That got Scott's attention and he sat up straighter. "Dude you can't bring  _Tony_ to homecoming." Scott said, as if Peter was that dumb.

"No, Erik asked if I wanted to go with him, as like a friend thing." Peter explained.

"I assume you punched him in the face as your response?" Scott goaded, turning the volume down on the television, as apparently this took extreme precedent.

"Uh, no. I said yes. He knows I have a boyfriend so I don't think it's that big of a deal." He shrugged and slouched back down further into the couch, intent on getting comfortable. Apparently though, Scott wasn't going to let that happen and kept talking away.

"Yes it  _is_ a big deal! Why are you going with him? You hate him!" Scott accused, seeming to be actually really upset. "See going with this lesbian girl would have been  _perfect_ because it wouldn't have made Tony worry at all! Now you're going with Erik? I mean Peter you are 1:1 for cheating on your boyfriends and I think we all know how that ended up last time." Scott said, and rationally Peter knew that Scott hadn't meant what he said, but it still made Peter was to throw up.

"What the  _fuck_ Scott! You know how big of an asshole Erik was being at that time. And I'm not going to cheat on Tony. How could you think that?" Peter tried to keep his voice down since they weren't the only ones in the room, but he still couldn't stop himself from getting a little heated.

" _Exactly,_ Erik's an asshole." Scott focused in on one of the things Peter said, giving him an 'i told you so' look.

Peter got up and walked away. He wasn't going to get in a shouting match with his best friend.

Thankfully T'Challa wasn't in their room, so when he got there and immediately broke into tears, no one was there to see it.

Peter felt another vibration from his phone and he pulled it out. It was another text from Tony.

**Received: Tony 5:48 pm.**

> But I like making bad decisions with you :)

**Received: Tony 6:30 pm.**

> Wanna call me tonight? We can just talk on the phone for a while?

More tears welled up in Peter's eyes and he lay on his bed, pulling the blankets up around him, he didn't even take his shoes off.

Of fucking course Tony wasn't mad at him, or wanting to take a break. Peter was the one being rash, making stupid decisions.

Now he was going to prom with Erik, and like Scott had said, Peter had a 100% track for cheating on his boyfriends.

He pulled his phone back up, confident that TC would at least be a few more minutes, and then pulled up Tony's contact. There was a picture of their car for the photo, that made Peter smile, and then cry some more.

Pressing the call button, Peter held the phone up to his ear and listened to the dull ringing sound. He didn't know if maybe Tony was in a meeting and couldn't talk, maybe now was a bad time, maybe he was interrupting something important. Maybe this was stupid-- Peter was cut out of his thoughts by the sound of Tony's voice.

"Hey baby." It said in a quiet tone, not a whisper, just soothing.

"Hi." Peter said, just as softly. He was worried he would sob more if he started talking.

"Are you okay?" Tony could immediately tell something was wrong, which made Peter smile again, and then cry harder because of how  _stupid_ he'd been, thinking that Tony was through with him.

"No." He responded, vague and unhelpful, but that's the mood Peter was in.

"What's wrong? How can I make it better?" And there was the famous thoughtfulness of Tony Stark, making Peter feel better.

"Tell me you still like me." Peter said, it sounded whinier than he'd intended, more petulant and child like, but Peter was still a child for now.

The line was a little quiet for a moment, he could hear Tony take a deep breath. "Oh Petey, I care about you so much. I'm sorry that I made you think I wasn't interested any more. Is that what this is all about?"

Peter ignored his question, he didn't want to talk about everything on the phone, he wanted to talk in person. "I talked to Erik today." He said, whispering now, not wanting to tell Tony. Something about it felt dirty, shameful,  _bad._

"Are you okay?" Tony's voice sounded different asking that, more worried, protective.

"Yeah. I'm fine. I just wanted to tell you." Peter answered, sounding childlike once again. "I miss you." Peter added.

"I miss you too." Tony said and then was silent for another moment. "Hey, do you want to come to New York for a couple days of spring break with me? Then I'll fly you back to Alexandria so you can see May." He offered.

Peter's heart swelled and he let a grin cover his face. "Of course I want to! I have to meet this new assistant of yours and make sure she's not too pretty." Peter joked, feeling more like himself now.

"Oh I met her earlier this afternoon and let me tell you..." Tony trailed off for a moment, building suspense. "She has got  _nothing_ on you." He said and Peter could hear the smile in his voice.

The door knob moved a bit and Peter realized that their time on the phone was coming to a close.

"I have to go, my roommate is back." Peter said.

"Okay, we have a lot to talk about when I get back Pete. Things have been weird these past few days. Remember you can call me after five most days I'm gone." Tony rambled off.

"We do have a lot to talk about. Bye Tony, sleep tight." Peter bid and then Tony said goodnight to him and he hung up. TC had ignored Peter talking on the phone and took a seat at his desk.

So not everything was okay, but some things were starting to look better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay I lied, they did talk to each other but it wasn't really ~the~ talk.


	15. Spiderman: Homecoming

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ya'll always guess correctly whats gonna happen next. is this like the most predicable story in the world??? lmao  
> -u guys get an extra long chapter this time! Don't fucking know why this one was so long. i got a little carried away with the dumb soccer team antics.  
> -they were gonna have the talk in this chapter but it just got too long oof  
> -THE ENDING IS SO CHEESY oof. its a big ooof too. i cant believe i wrote that lmao

> I can't go to prom with you

The text sat, unsent as Peter stared at it.

He  _couldn't_ go to prom with Erik. He didn't know what had driven him to say yes in the first place.

"Just get it over with Pete. Bandaid, remember?" Scott said, lazing on Pete's bed as he attempted to read an assigned novel. He hadn't gotten very far into it.

"Bandaid my ass. Remember last time I did something that pissed Erik off?" Peter asked and sent an incredulous look to Scott, who just rolled his eyes and went back to reading his book.

Finally, about five minutes later, Peter sent the message, and then waited in trepidation for a response.

"If he hits me again, I'm blaming it on you." Pete said and slipped his phone into his pocket, pulling out some school books.

It was Thursday night and he'd agreed to go to prom with Thor's friend a few days ago, had just been procrastinating for quite some time.

"That's fair." Scott finally agreed.

**Received: Tony 8:52 pm.**

> Kind of risky but do you want to spend the day at my house on Saturday?

**Sent: Tony 8:55 pm.**

> I wish I could but I have a super hot prom date I have to attend to.

Peter sent the text with ease and didn't feel any guilt about it. If he'd been going with Erik, he still would have been trying to hide it from Tony, but he was going on a completely harmless friend date. Maybe Peter would even like this chick, Thor had said she was loud and abrasive, so maybe not Peter's type, but he was friends with Scott.

**Received: Tony 8:59 pm.**

> ooooh, should I be jealous?

**Sent: Tony 9:01 pm.**

> No. I have even met her yet. I'm sure she's a very pretty lesbian.

**Received: Tony 9:03 pm.**

> With how cute you are, I don't think you'll be able to keep even the lesbians away.

**Sent: Tony 9:06 pm.**

> When you're right, you're right. Lol, see you soon Tony

Peter hoped that they'd be able to spend some time together on Sunday, he didn't think he'd be able to bare another day away from Tony, cancelling prom didn't seem that outlandish at this point.

But he would go, and he would hopefully enjoy himself.

Towards the end of his homework Pete received a message from Erik.

**Received: Erik 9:45 pm.**

> No worries.

* * *

Saturday morning was spent at Scott's house with the whole team.

Pete was glad that uncle Ben had been a pretty small guy so he was able to fit into one of his old suits. He always brought something nice with him to school, just in case, and he'd been thinking about prom when he'd packed it.

The only thing he'd had to buy out of his own pocket was a red tie to match Valkyrie's dress, and a corsage that was keeping fresh in Scott's fridge.

"Alright, I think it's time for a little pregaming." Quill announced and pulled a thirty rack of budweiser out of the fridge.

"Isn't there a breathalyzer?" Bucky asked, but didn't hesitate in grabbing a can and popping the tab.

"Well you see, through some expert detective work-" Quill started.

"More like blind guesswork." Steve added.

"As I was saying, through my excellent guesswork, I figured out that the breathalyzer isn't actually real. It's just there to scare kids into not drinking." Quill said, obviously very proud of himself.

"How'd you figure that one out Sherlock?" Loki asked, raising one eyebrow and jumping up to sit on the counter in Scott's kitchen. His parents were out of the country for some reason, they always seemed to be leaving Scott to his own devices.

"Well, Scott got super drunk before we went and Quill thought it would be a great test to see if he could still get into prom. We waited in the car and he gave us the go ahead to down a few shots before heading in." TC answered.

"So it wasn't actually your own genius, it was just Scott's stupidity?" Loki clarified and Quill rolled his eyes.

"Alright, alright, I guess it wasn't a master plan." He succeeded and passed a beer to everyone in his vicinity.

It was only around two in the afternoon, their dates were set to arrive at seven, and then they'd take a limo to prom. Scott's parents had ordered the limo, Peter thought it was a little lavish. He also thought it was little extreme that they were beginning to drink five hours before they were going anywhere.

"Someone shotgun with me!" Scott announced, maybe twenty minutes later while they were all either still mingling around the kitchen, or lounging in the living room.

"Not looking to throw up, thank you." Loki said with disgust in his voice.

"I'll go with you Scott." Paul offered and grabbed another beer from the case. They would probably need to get more at some point, or more likely, someone already had more beer somewhere.

"Alright, I have  _one_ taker, now am I seeing two? Two takers? Little elimination round?" Scott goaded and finally Thor agreed, grabbing a can for himself.

Thor grabbed the crook of Scott's shoulder tightly, but not menacingly. "I'm going to destroy you ant man." He declared and then let Scott go, who winced at the pain in his shoulder.

"Yeah, yeah, you're all big talk. Come on anyone else?" He asked.

Peter wasn't really into drinking games like this, but it wasn't like he had homework to do or anything, so he grabbed one for himself.

Scott passed sharp tipped steak knives to the four of them.

"You suckers are going down. On the count of five! One, two," before Scott got to three both him and Paul had the same idea and immediately cut their can before popping the tops. Peter and Thor scrambled to catch up to the underhanded tactics.

In just a few seconds Pete was caught up, more letting the liquid fall down his throat than really drinking it.

Peter crunched the can in his hand, signifying that he was done just barely before Paul did, both of them throwing their cans down on the floor.

"Haha losers!" Pete goaded, watching Thor and Scott desperately trying to finish theirs. They finished at around the same time and Scott had to regain his bearings for a moment before he spoke again.

"Okay, champions round. Paul versus Pete. Winner takes all. Ready your beers gentlemen." Scott ordered and both of them reached for new ones.

Pete's stomach was really full and he had to pee, so he wasn't really sure how this was gonna go.

They both started, and apparently Paul was a lot more full, so Pete won by a landslide. Scott cheered for him, Thor chest bumped him, and Paul even gave him a sarcastic bow to the 'champion.'

They were having fun, Pete wasn't stressed for almost the first time this week. There was just something about having a beer with his closest friends that put him at ease. Tonight would be an easy night and Pete could take a day off from his life.

* * *

"Valkyrie." She greeted, shaking his hand a little harder than she had to.

"Uh, I'm Peter. Nice to meet you." He said, giving her a smile. She seemed nice, and was extremely beautiful. Her red dress accentuated her skin tone. From an outside view, Peter thought she was attractive and wouldn't mind going to prom with her.

Peter was drawn from his interaction with her when he heard someone raise their voice a bit across the room.

"Oh come on, you couldn't  _tell_ me you're going to prom with my little sister?" TC asked, but he didn't sound incredibly happy about it.

"Don't be such a bother brother. It's not a bit deal." Apparantly TC's little sister said. Peter had heard about her, she went to the private girls school in town, but he'd never met her.

"But it's  _Scott,_ Shuri! He's my team mate." Tc pleaded with her, but he obviously wasn't going to change her mind.

"I like Scott! He's cool, unlike you." She said, but it was more cheeky than serious. TC knocked her on the shoulder once but seemed to get over it. He fixed Scott with a pretty scary glance for a moment before going back to his date. He'd met TC's girlfriend before, Nakia, she'd come to a few games and Pete really liked her.

"You're drunk," he heard another girl he'd never seen before comment, fixing Paul with a slightly disappointed look.

"And you're pretty." He responded. The girl grinned at him and it almost made Peter smile too.

"Hey, we should do that thing that freshman have to do. You know, go around and say our names and such." Quill announced, easily casting his voice throughout the whole room.

It wasn't a bad idea, even though it was a little awkward. Pete found that he didn't really know any of the girls' names other than Valkyrie and Nakia.

"I'll start. I'm Peter Quill, but call me Quill cause we have another Peter."

"Gamora." The girl next to Quill said. He had his arm around her.

So this was Quill's fabled girlfriend. She was way more beautiful than anything Peter could have come up with.

"Wait you're dating this idiot?" Bucky questioned. "Like for real?"

Gamora gave Bucky a confused look. "Yeah, Quill told me that he told you guys about me." She said.

"Ha! And you guys never believed I had such a smoking chick for a girlfriend." Quill bragged.

"Don't call me chick." Gamora immediately butted in. Quill gave a quick apology, which made the whole team laugh. They were all a little tipsy, and it was pretty funny to see Quill's girlfriend pushing him around.

"I'm Steve."

"Steve's boyfriend. Bucky."

"Paul."

"I'm Wanda." The girl said, pushing her brown hair behind her ear. Peter noticed an accent that he hadn't picked up on before.

"Paul you  _flew_ your girlfriend in for prom?" Quill questioned, raising one eyebrow.

"No, no. I graduated last year in Serbia. I am living in DC now." She explained.

"She drove down." Paul added.

Pete knew that Paul was pretty well off, but the guy was so timid and quiet, he would have never imagined him with a girl like Wanda.

"I'm Jane!" Thor's mousy date said. She wore glasses, Peter recognized her from a picture Thor had shown him.

"And I am Thor." He announced. Everything Thor said was so loud that it classified as an announcement.

"T'Challa, this is my girlfriend Nakia." He introduced the both of them. The team already knew Nakia though so it wasn't that important.

"I'm Scott, this is my girlfriend, T'Challa's sister." The team got a hoot out of that, some of them still pretty drunk.

"I'm Shuri." She corrected but had laughed along with what Scott said.

"Loki." He said, rather demurely, under the arm of an upperclassman that Peter just barely recognized. He was handsome though, so Peter wondered why he hadn't noticed him before.

"And I'm En." He introduced. Pete would give Lokes props for the hot date later.

"That's Sam!" Bucky yelled, pointing his good arm at him. Sam didn't seem to be a great mood so he just rolled his eyes and let it slide.

"Okoye." Another girl from the catholic school that TC had mentioned before said. She was pretty too, but she and Sam didn't really look that compatible, Pete would guess that they'd met that night.

"I'm the other Pete." He said when it came to him.

"And I'm Valkyrie." She said, giving a smile to the group.

"Drax." He said in his usual robust voice.

"And I'm Mantis." The last girl said, finishing up the introductions. Peter had talked to Mantis for a moment when she'd first arrived. She was way more attractive than Drax, but also way weirder, so they went together well.

"Alright, it's 7:50. I say we get in the limo." Scott suggested. He still had a can of beer in his hand.

Peter was a little unsteady on his feet, but overall he didn't feel too drunk. He felt comfortable, and would stay comfortable if he didn't drink anymore.

Of course, in the limo, Valkyrie pulled out two fifths of vodka, earning a cheer from the rest of the limo. So Peter broke his little vow to himself that he wouldn't drink anymore. Sacrificing his comfort for fun.

The bottles went around the opposite directions from him for a moment, and somehow, after everyone had taken a few sips, both of them were in his lap. There was probably four shots left between the two bottles and he meant to pass it on to Valkyrie again, only take a little sip.

"Come on Petey, don't let us down now!" Scott yelled.

"Peter, if you drink all of that I promise you that we'll win the state soccer title." Bucky said, very seriously in Peter's opinion.

"I'll never complain about being benched again." Loki added.

Peter stared down at the bottles for one moment before he made his decision.

He brought the first bottle up and tipped his head straight back, pouring basically all of it into his mouth before even swallowing. Once he got that one down, he did that other.

Pete shook his head harshly and dropped the bottles. "Fu-uck." He groaned and drank some water that Wanda passed to him. "Let's go to fucking prom."

* * *

"You having fun Valkyrie? I hope I'm not boring you. I am pretty drunk though." Peter apologized. The whole group was standing a little too the side of where everyone was dancing. They didn't know many kids from the public high school, but it wasn't like they noticed.

They got in the doors without any hassle, not even for Peter who had a very hard time keeping his composure together for the five minutes he had to stand in line. Scott had been very covertly holding him up.

"Yeah I'm good! And you're not drunk Pete, you're fucking wasted. It's pretty funny." She said.

They had been having a good time. She was really fun, and it wasn't like they only had to talk to each other.

"Petey!" A voice called that Pete immediately placed as Wade's.

He was in a suit, his tie matching Logan's.

"Hey dude." Peter greeted, his speech drastically slurred.

"You're always drunk or high when we meet." Logan commented with a grin on his face.

"The trick is, I'm  _always_ drunk  _and_ high." He joked.

"Hey by the way Pete, did you know we play our qualifying games against each other?" Logan asked.

Somewhere, deep in Peter's liquid brain, he knew that. "Yeah, I think so. We're gonna cream you guys." Pete responded. His mouth wasn't really doing what his mind was telling it to though, so he wasn't sure it was was completely coherent.

"Well, I'm going to cream  _for_ you guys." Wade zipped.

"And I think we're done here. See you at our next game Pete." Logan excused himself.

**Received: Tony 9:30 pm.**

> You wanna come by after prom? I don't care how late.

Peter had to comprehend what the message was saying, and finally he gave up.

"Scott?" He asked pretty blindly to the group.

"What's up Pete?" Scott was actually right beside Peter and Pete slowly turned his head to look at him.

"What does this say?" Pete passed the phone to Scott.

"Uh, Tony wants to know if you want to go to his house after prom." Scott relayed.

"Uh hell yeah. Reply with 'fuck yes' please." Peter demanded and Scott handed him back his phone after sending the message.

**Sent: Tony 9:35 pm.**

> Sounds great! I'll let you know when :)

"Dude Scott." Peter got his attention again, not five minutes later.

"What?" Scott stopped talking to his date to look over at Peter. Pete hadn't really moved for the past few minutes because he was so unsteady on his feet. He didn't reckon he would be completely sober until at least tomorrow morning.

"Have you seen Erik?" He asked but had a bit of a mischievous look on his face.

"No, why?" Scott asked, playing along a bit.

"Trick question. He's over there." Pete pointed somewhere behind Scott.

"That's not a trick question." Scott tried to explain but gave up and turned around, noticing Erik talking to some kids from the other school. Erik looked over at the two of them and Scott quickly looked away.

"Maybe I should go say hi." Pete said and then tried to start walking that way. Scott grabbed his by the suit collar.

"That's a terrible idea." Scott chided and firmly planted Peter back in his spot where he was leaning against the wall.

Peter wanted to argue, but he felt a little nauseous again so he decided to focus on his breathing instead of arguing.

It was kind of in vain though, because Erik headed over to the group anyway.

It was awkward to watch his walk over because almost the entire soccer team bristled at the sight of him.

Erik tried to pass it off casually, as if he was just going to talk to his little sister.

"Shuri, you look beautiful." He said and she smiled at him. Peter didn't know if they had a good relationship or not. He knew that she was close with TC, which Peter assumed would make hers and Erik's relationship strained.

"Thank you brother." She said in agreement.

Erik made eye contact with Peter and Pete maintained it for just a little too long, letting Erik get the impression that he wanted to talk or something.

The team was mostly centered in a circle that just barely included Peter, he was on the outskirts leaning against the wall. He could see that Steve had his eye on the situation though so Peter wasn't too worried.

"Hey Pete." Erik greeted and Peter tried to return his smile but it was really lopsided.

Hey man." Peter replied with, holding the 'a' in man for way too long to be casual.

"You a little drunk Petey?" Erik questioned with a small laugh.

"A  _little._ " He emphasized.

"I just wanted to know why you stood me up? I felt like we had a good rapport the other day." Erik explained, changing that subject so fast that it actually disorientated Peter a little bit.

"I uh, you know I just felt bad cause my boyfriend couldn't go with me and it would be weird if I went with my ex." He tried to say as best as he could.

"Is your boyfriend even fucking real or are you just making him up to shut me down?" Erik questioned. Erik was a little drunk too, which made Peter nervous because Erik could be an angry drunk, and Peter did not want another bruise. Especially since he was drunk and that much easier to bruise.

"Of course he's real. I just didn't want to have it seem like I was cheating on him yaknow because Scott pointed out that I cheat on my boyfriends a lot and..." Peter trailed off, confused as to where he was going with that.

"A  _lot?_ You cheated on my  _a lot?"_ Erik questioned, getting a little more in Peter's face.

"No just the one time." He said. And it was true, it was really just the one time.

"Fucking liar." Erik mumbled and turned to walk away.

"Hey I'm not a liar. Plus you suck anyway so..." Pete trailed off with a laugh and Erik turned back around.

His drunken self could really learn to speak less.

But Erik's drunken self could really learn to hit less.

Because once again, Erik delivered a hard slap across Peter's face, barely audible over the music, and barely visible in the dim lights.

Erik disappeared into the crowd by the time anyone really reacted to what happened. No one had been listening to their conversation, and Steve had been too far away to fix anything.

"Oh fuck Peter! Are you okay?" Valkyrie asked and put an arm over his shoulder, helping him to stand up a little straighter.

Steve had a phone camera out and was looking at Peter's face. Scott pulled out the nice pocket square from his suit and pressed it against peter's nose as he felt a rush of blood.

"Where the fuck did he go?!" Quill yelled, grabbing Bucky and Sam to follow him into the throng of people.

"Is your nose broken Peter?" Steve asked.

"No." Pete mumbled and grabbed the pocket square that Scott was holding so he could hold it himself.

"Do you want us to take you anywhere? I can call a cab?" Valkyrie offered as everyone else huddled around him.

The world was swimming a little more than it had been before and Pete stumbled for a moment. Loki got under his other shoulder to help hold him up more.

Peter fished his phone out of his pocket and handed it to Scott. "Can you call." Is all he said and Scott held the phone in confusion for a moment before nodding.

"Here let's go in the bathroom, it's quieter." Scott offered. "Loki, Steve, you guys come with." He directed and Steve got under the arm the Valkyrie had been supporting.

The few people who were standing around the white tiled bathroom left when the four of them came in.

Peter braced himself on the porcelain sink with one hand, the other holding the pocket square. His face was all red, and even the corner of his eye was turning red, a popped blood vessel.

"This is just fucking great." Pete mumbled and stumbled against the sink. Loki caught him and held him up.

Scott was dialing Tony's phone number.

"Guys shut up." Scott directed as the phone rang. "Hey Tony," Scott used his first name so as not to tip off Steve and Loki. "It's Scott, Peter's friend. He got a little hurt and we were just wondering if you could possibly pick him up?" There was a momentary pause. "Yep that sounds great. We'll wait for you outside. Thanks." Then he hung up the phone.

"He said he'd be here in like fifteen minutes. Let's go get you some air Petey. We got it from here guys, just go back to your dates and tell everyone Peter's gonna be fine." Scott explained and hoisted Peter up on his own.

"Wait who was that? Who's coming to get Peter?" Loki questioned.

"Just a friend of his." Scott said, but was already walking Peter out the bathroom door and out one of the side exits that Scott remembered from last time. No one stopped them on their way outside, they didn't even see a single adult.

The air was crisp outside and it was basically pitch black.

"Let's go sit down on the sidewalk Petey." Scott offered and help Peter to sit down. It was right next to where their limo had dropped them off. Scott hoped that Tony had tinted windows, because they weren't the only ones sitting outside.

"I don't feel good Scott." Peter moaned and lay back on the hard ground. His knees where bent and his feet firmly on the asphalt. Scott really hoped Peter would be okay. It didn't seem like he'd have to go to the hospital, but he'd been drinking since two in the afternoon.

"I know Petey. I'm sorry we pressured you into drinking all of that." He apologized and Peter just shook his head but didn't respond.

Finally, a black Audi with dark tinted windows pulled up and Scott helped Peter off of the ground. "I'll see you tomorrow." Scott said and pulled Peter into a light hug before helping him into the car.

The door closed as Peter sat down and he kept the square of fabric pressed against his nose incase anymore blood came out.

"Are you okay Peter? Do we have to go to the emergency room?" Tony questioned immediately and put his hand on Peter's knee.

"No. I just want to go home." He said and put his hand over Tony's. He missed the first time but then finally got it.

"Can you tell me what happened?" Tony asked as he shifted the car into gear and pulled away from the sidewalk, towards his own home.

"I got really drunk. Too drunk. Then Erik hit me again." He summed up the night pretty well.

Tony just sighed and chewed on his lower lip.

"I missed you." Peter slurred and tried to rhythmically run his thumb over the back of Tony's hand, but it was more jerky and stilted.

"I missed you too Petey." Tony promised and the rest of the drive was spent in slightly strained silence.

When they pulled into Tony's garage, Peter stumbled getting out of the car and fell to his knees. Tony jogged to the other side and helped Peter to his feet.

"What did you have to drink?" Tony asked, basically holding all of his weight.

"Maybe like six beers and then four shots?" Peter said, but he wasn't really sure on how much beer he'd had.

"How long ago?" Tony was helping him up the stairs now, Peter was being almost no help.

"It's like ten so two hours ago I guess." Peter wasn't completely sure of what time it was, or really when all the drinking happened.

"Alright, I'm not really sure if this will help at this point, but I'm going to have you throw up okay?" Tony asked, immediately guiding him to the bathroom when they got up the stairs.

"Throwing up sounds good." Peter agreed and easily went down to his knees in front of the toilet.

"Can you do it naturally or do you need to force it?" Tony rubbed Peter's back as he spoke and Pete limply put his fingers in his mouth, but was unable to trigger anything. Tony pulled Peter's fingers away and centered his face over the toilet before pushing his own two fingers down Peter's throat.

Pete heaved once, twice, and then emptied the contents of his stomach into the toilet. It was mostly liquid so it wasn't that gross. Tony helped Peter to his feet, flushed, and then washed both of their hands before having Peter rinse with mouthwash.

"That should keep any unabsorbed alcohol from absorbing." Tony explained, but Peter didn't really care that much. "Can you get yourself upstairs to bed?"

"Yeah." Peter mumbled and very slowly made his way over to the stairs.

"I'll be right up." Tony promised.

Peter had to walk on all fours up the stairs, and then basically collapsed into the bed when he got to it. He pulled the pocket square away from his nose since it had stopped bleeding.

Tony came up a few moments later with an ice back and a couple wet rags. "I'm going to clean your face up okay baby?" Tony asked, though Peter doubted he could really say no at this point.

Peter lay still while Tony straddled him and gently washed the crusted blood off of his face before instructing Peter to hold the ice bag over his eye.

Tony threw all of the dirty things into the hamper and then started undoing Peter's tie, getting him all the way down to his boxers. "You don't feel like you have to throw up anymore?" Tony asked.

Peter shook his head and tried to get the blankets over him for some warmth.

Tony stood up, getting out of his own clothes and then getting under the blankets with Peter.

"I'm going to wake you up in an hour so you can drink some water." Tony mumbled, but Peter was already half asleep.

* * *

Peter woke up suddenly from a dream and sat up in bed.

It was four in the morning and Tony wasn't in bed with him anymore.

He didn't feel too bad since Tony had gotten a lot of water in him, but he was still a little shaky had his head had a dull ache.

Pete got up to go find Tony, pulling a tee shirt from the floor on. It was Tony's shirt and it said  _Led Zeppelin_ in faded letters.

He felt like shit for last night. He'd gotten way out of hand and probably ruined everyone's night. He shouldn't have had that much to drink, it was just plain stupid. He couldn't believe he'd forced Tony to come and help him after the man had been working all week.

Peter sighed and ran his hand through his hair. It was sweaty, he was pretty hot, he needed some air.

Tony wasn't in the kitchen so Peter headed out to the deck, where Tony was standing and smoking a cigarette.

"Hi Tony." Peter said and walked over to where he was, leaning against the railing next to him.

"Do you feel alright?" Tony asked, turning to face him before taking another drag.

"I feel fine. Listen, I'm really sorry about last night. I got out of control." Peter apologized.

"Hey, don't worry about it. I'm not going to deny that you drank way too much, and I would have rather seen you under different circumstances, but I'm glad I could make you feel better." Tony slung an arm around Peter and he leaned into the embrace.

"How does my face look?" There was dim lighting out on the patio and Peter figured Tony could see it well enough.

"There's no swelling but it's a pretty bad bruise. Erik hit you?" He questioned.

"Yeah, I said something shitty to him and he was a little drunk too." Peter explained and reached for the cigarette inbetween Tony's fingers. For a couple of seconds Tony held it out of his reach, but then decided to give it to Peter, who took a long drag.

"Don't make excuses for him Peter. He's a piece of shit."

Tony was calm and Peter was too. He was glad for that, glad that Tony wasn't angry or upset or anything, and glad that he wasn't sick or stupid anymore.

Peter crushed the cigarette in the ash tray next to him and turned to face Tony fully.

"He is a piece of shit." Peter agreed and cupped Tony's cheeks between his hands.

"We need to talk." Tony said, but both of them knew that wasn't going to happen at the moment.

"We will. Not right now."

Tony closed the gap between the two of them and kissed Peter, long and soft. So soft that Peter could feel all of Tony's emotions spilling through it and he couldn't help but fall into his arms.

Tony's hands were in his hair, and then they were travelling down. One went under his shirt and the other gripped Peter's ass tightly, but not harshly.

Peter rubbed his thumb over Tony's stubbled cheek.

He wanted to cry into the kiss, but instead he smiled at how lucky he was the Tony was his.

"I love you." Peter mumbled against Tony's lips. He meant it. He'd never said it to Erik before, because he knew deep down that he  _didn't_ love Erik.

But there was no other explanation for the tossing and turning of butterflies in Peter's stomach while he did something so simple as kissing his boyfriend. He loved Tony Stark.

Tony pulled away for a moment and looked into Peter's eyes, searching, making sure that he wasn't lying.

"I love you too Peter." He finally whispered back, it was so quiet that Peter could just barely hear it.

They kissed again, this time more vigorous and needy. Their teeth clashed together a few times and their hands were roaming. Tony's hand was now down Peter's boxers and roughly gripping his ass. Peter's nails were raking over Tony's back.

Tony pressed them against the railing of the deck and pressed against him, their bodies fitting together perfectly. He rolled his hips up against Peters and Pete let out a soft moan. They were outside at four in the morning, but still Peter felt like he should keep it down.

Neither of them lasted long, pressing back against one another like their lives depended on it. Peter would need to borrow a pair of Tony's pajama bottoms.

"I love you." Tony repeated, biting a spot on Peter's neck.

"I love you." He repeated again and nipped at Peter's ear lobe.

"I'm sorry if I ever made you think otherwise." Peter apologized for his actions.

"We really can't communicate can we?" Tony joked.

"I think we can now." Peter answered with a grin and leaned up to whisper in Tony's ear one more time: "I love you."


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my shortest chapter by far, whoops :'(

"So Strange knows." Peter mused in bed next to Tony. They were tangled up in the sheets, both only wearing boxers. They'd managed to go back to sleep for just a few hours after their early morning activities.

"Yeah, he talked to me the day after you. Basically said he wasn't going to tell anyone if I could get him a job." Tony explained. They were leaning against the headboard, pillows propped up behind them so at least they weren't completely laying down.

Peter felt more rested than he had in over a week. His mind finally wasn't buzzing with constant worry about the state of his and Tony's relationship.

"So, he exhorted you?" Peter raised an eyebrow and looked over at Tony. His hair was wavy and messy from sleep and Peter reached his hand forward to push it out of Tony's face, back like when he had his sunglasses pushed up, just how Peter liked it.

"I didn't really see another option. Pretty sure I'd get in more trouble if there was a legal battle." Tony shrugged it off and Peter couldn't tell that it wasn't bothering him too much, at least having to hire Strange. "That's not the only problem though. I feel like this relationship is getting alarmingly more public. Two people know now, plus everyone else who at least know that either of us is in a mysterious relationship."

"They aren't the only ones. I, uh, I told my friends from home. The ones I went out with, Ned and Michelle." Peter admitted and Tony pinched the bridge of his nose.

"No one else can find out about this Pete. At least three of them are your friends, we still can't be completely sure that Strange won't just change his mind. We might have to start seeing each other less. Albeit, we barely see each other as it is, but now? Fuck Pete I don't know if we should spend spring break together." Tony mused.

Pete searched for his hand under the covers and held it tight. "Next October I'll be 18, we can wait a month or two after that and then make it public, that way no one can accuse us of doing things before I was eighteen. It's less than a year Tony, I think we can just play it safe." Peter urged, he didn't want to have to spend no time with Tony, but things were good right now, and he figured they could still risk seeing each other on the weekends or something.

They were both quiet for a moment, enjoying each others presence and the subtle physical contact between them.

"What happened between us?" Tony asked, it was quiet, almost as if he hadn't meant to speak it.

"I got stressed and over reacted." Peter was going to leave it at that, but as silence filled the room again, he decide to extrapolate. "Finals are coming up, and the team is getting three new players soon. Then Strange dumped all of this on me and I just... I don't know, it was too much. There were just so many things I didn't want to deal with all happening."

Tony wasn't exactly sure what Peter wanted to hear in response to that, so he went with the first thing that popped into his mind. "You thought you could possibly fail a final?"

"My graduation depends on almost perfect scores, yeah I'm freaked." Peter felt like he was allowed to stress over things like this.

"You got a hundred percent on my last test kid, you're smarter than me. There's  _no way_ you're flunking these." Tony tried to reassure him, Peter just gave a shrug, obviously not wanting to think about them.

Peter didn't say anything in response so Tony tried to think of what else would make the kid feel better.

"Have you considered that your new players might be really good? What if they're the reason you win state?" He offered up. Peter'd had a pretty negative view of them for a while and Tony didn't really understand why.

"I guess." Pete said with another shrug. Sometimes Peter's childishness made Tony want to scream, but this wasn't the time for a lecture.

"What do you want to do today?" They hadn't even gotten out of bed yet, but Peter didn't really want to get out of bed. He was comfortable with Tony, and he sure as hell didn't want to go back to school.

"Nothing." Pete finally said and stretched his arms above his head, yawning. When he brought his hands down he looked over at Tony, who finally looked over at Peter, and then Pete leaned in, kissing Tony softly.

Tony's stubble scratched against Pete's face, but he liked it. He liked Tony with his beard, but he had never seen him without and was quietly curious.

"Didn't we just do this a couple hours ago?" Tony complained, but he was only joking.

"That was  _hours_ ago. What are you too old to get it up again?" Pete joked and Tony pulled him over onto his lap, so that Peter was straddling him and leaning down to keep kissing him.

Tony tightly wrapped his fingers into Peter's hair, pulling just enough so that it would hurt but not ruin the moment.

They'd gotten up to stuff earlier in the morning but it had been a long time since both of them could just enjoy one another. Since Christmas at least since they'd had such unlimited time with one another. Peter loved it, he loved feeling Tony against him and knowing that at least for a few hours he wouldn't go away.

Peter pulled away momentarily and moved his head down to Tony's bare chest, leaving hickeys and love marks around his nipples and sliding down his abdomen. Peter liked leaving marks on Tony just as much as he liked receiving marks on himself. It was a predatory thing. If Tony ever had to take his shirt off for any reason then everyone would know that he was taken.

Tony pushed Peter again, this time so that he was on his stomach, head against the pillows. "On your knees." Tony whispered and then pulled Peter's boxers off as he shifted. Peter took in a small breath, thinking that he knew what was coming.

One of Tony's hands went around to the front, gripping Peter's cock and giving it a bit of a squeeze, while the other one gripped Peter's hip, holding him in place. With Peter exactly where he wanted him, he pressed his lips down against Peter's hole, and then pressed his tongue flat against it.

Peter shivered at the new feeling and bucked his hips slightly into Tony's hand.

Tony hand on his hip pulled his ass apart slightly and Tony licked up a few more times, broad and nonpenetrative motions of his tongue. When Peter was rhythmically thrusting into his hand, Tony pressed his tongue harder against the hole, trying to breach it.

Peter hadn't been stretched in a long time but it only took a moment before his tongue was inside of Peter. As Pete started to speed up his hips, fucking himself into Tony's hand, Tony pulled his hand away so that Peter couldn't get any friction. "Fuck, fuck Tony." Peter moaned in annoyance, but Tony didn't want Peter to cum too soon.

For a few moments Tony just languidly split Peter open with his tongue. He pulled it out for only a second and Peter keened, whining incoherently for Tony.

He flipped Peter so that he was on his back. "Please do that again Tony." Peter begged as Tony riffled through his bedside drawer, finally pulling out a bottle of lube.

"Do what again baby?" Tony asked, but he was just being cheeky. Peter simply turned red and didn't respond.

He pushed Peter's legs up so they were on either one of his shoulders, one of Tony's hands holding onto Peter's hip to hold him up like this. Peter's body was bent a little awkwardly, but the kid didn't really look like he minded.

Tony's tongue went straight back to work with what he'd been doing before, but this time he lubed up his index finger and inserted it. He didn't move his finger at first and was still just working mainly with his tongue in Peter.

Finally, Tony pulled his tongue out completely and inserted a second finger. Peter'd had two of his own fingers inside of himself the other day, but Tony's fingers were thicker and longer and unlike Peter's, they could actually hit his prostate.

His body jolted a bit when Tony first curled his finger over Peter's prostate, his abs tightening and his eyes rolling in their sockets.

Tony's fingers started to shallowly thrust in and out of Peter and Tony lowered Peter's body so that his legs were around Tony's waist. He could get a much better angle with his fingers that way.

Peter's only vocabulary was a litany of vowel sounds and the beginnings of Tony's name. His eyes were closed and his body was completely relaxed.

Tony scissored his fingers inside of Peter, working him open even more.

"Can you take three?" Tony asked, it was really just a sexier way of asking if he was comfortable with going that far.

"Yeah." Peter mumbled, not wanting anything to stop, wondering what it would be like to feel more full. He loved that sensation, of having something inside of him, of being stretched. He could probably have Tony's fingers in him for hours.

Tony poured lube on his third finger, careful to not pull the other ones too far out. Slowly he entered his ring finger and pushed them in. It took a moment for the knuckles to work in, but after a moment, the three fingers were all the way in Peter's hole to the third knuckle.

Peter let out a deep sigh when they were all in and his eyes fluttered in ecstasy.

Very slowly Tony began to move his fingers, pulling them out just a little and then pushing them back in. He continued this slower than he probably should, making Peter more needy for it. Finally, he started thrusting them, pulling almost all the way out and then nailing them back in.

Peter started to get louder, moving his ass down on Tony's fingers and not even jerking himself off.

Not long after, Peter was cumming all over himself. It spilled down on his stomach as Peter breathed heavily. Tony thrusted a few more times as Peter was hyper sensitive, and then slowly pulled his fingers out.

"Was that good?" Tony asked, rather arrogantly as Peter was still trying to come back down from his euphoria.

He blinked his eyes a few times and nodded leisurely. "You should cum on me." He said, quietly, his eyes still only half open.

Tony smirked and put Peter's legs down, straddling him and leaning down to kiss him as he jerked himself off, quickly and harshly so that he would cum soon.

He pulled away slightly as he orgasmed, his lips still pressing against Peters but not being able to continue the kiss as passionately as his cum dripped onto Peters chest, mixing in with the kids.

"I want to have sex with you." Peter suddenly said, drawing Tony out of his reverie.

"Right now? That's not going to work." Tony responded, rolling over and rubbing his eyes before finally getting off the bed and deciding to get dressed.

Peter sat up on the bed, pulling a blanket over his exposed cock. "No, not right now. I just... Soon. I want to have sex with you soon." He reiterated and Tony paused while pulling up his pants.

"Are you sure? We haven't been together super long. I don't want you to feel rushed." Tony said and found a tee shirt on the ground, smelling it before putting it on.

"I don't feel rushed at all. I just, that was the most amazing thing I've ever felt. I'm absolutely sure." Peter got out of bed too and used the boxers he'd been wearing to clean his stomach before throwing them in Tony's hamper. He pulled on a pair of Tony's sweat pants without underwear and an MIT tee shirt that was just a little too big for him.

"Alright then. Maybe next time." Tony promised and pulled Peter against his chest, pressing a kiss against his hair line. "You want some breakfast?" He asked.

Peter nodded. His head hurt from his hangover, but he wasn't sick, just hungry.

On the way out the door Peter stumbled on something, stopping to pick up what it was. A bottle of Charbay Whiskey, only a tiny bit was left in the bottom.

"Oh sorry." Tony grabbed the glass bottle from him and tossed it in the trash in his room.

"Do you drink a lot?" Peter asked. He supposed he'd never really noticed before. As they walked down the stairs Peter thought about the fact that Tony said he used to drink a lot, but Peter had never considered that maybe he still drank.

Tony pursed his lips to the side and went quiet for a moment. "Yeah. I do." He finally said.

Peter was silent on the rest of the walk to the kitchen, but felt a little uncomfortable, almost wishing that he hadn't asked the question.

"Is it for the PTSD?" Pete asked, taking a seat at the kitchen island. It was a personal line of questioning, but Peter figured they could be personal with each other. If Tony didn't want to talk about it then he would just tell Peter.

"Yes, it calms me down." Tony explained and went to the fridge, beginning to make breakfast for the both of them.

Pete rested his chin in his hands, elbows on the counter. "Why don't you just take anti-depressants?" Pete questioned. He knew that Loki and Steve both took anti-depressants, it wasn't uncommon.

Tony quirked his lips, obviously thinking about what exactly to say. "They can uh, increase your risk of suicidal thoughts and behavior."

Peter let that sink in for a moment.  _Increase,_ that meant that Tony already had suicidal thoughts-- or the alcohol was maybe getting rid of them. The thought made Peter's stomach churn. "Yeah I've heard that they can. Have you ever tried them though?" Pete couldn't really say why he was still talking about this. It seemed to be painful for Tony to answer these questions, but still, he wasn't  _not_ answering them, and Peter wanted to know.

"No." Was his simple answer and Pete raised an eyebrow.

"Just because they  _might_ raise your risk?" Peter wasn't going to let the subject drop at this point. It was intriguing, that Tony wouldn't even give them a shot.

"I don't really have anyone in my life to check up on me, make sure I'm okay. I figured it wasn't worth the risk." Tony explained with a shrug of his shoulders.

That was even more interesting. Tony would rather suffer by himself than give anyone the 'burden' of  _maybe_ having to monitor him.

"You have me." Peter smiled at him and Tony stared at Peter for a moment before turning back to what he was doing.

"I guess I do."

And Peter decided to drop the subject.

* * *

Peter walked into the dorms late in the afternoon. He'd stopped by Scott's house and picked up his car, thankfully no one was still there, and then he'd gone back to school.

The boys were, as usual, sitting in the common room and watching TV, but sitting on the couch in between Scott and Sam were two people that he didn't know.

"Our fearless leader is back!" Quill announced and everyone turned to look at him.

Peter knew that he didn't look good. The bruise on his face had three distinct finger marks plus a huge spot on his lower cheek where Erik's palm had been.

"Holy shit." Loki muttered and Peter gave them a shrug to show that he didn't really want to talk about it.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry about it." Peter said.

"Where did you even go last night Pete?" Bucky asked. They all knew that Erik had hit him, but not exactly what had happened afterward.

"Boyfriend's house." He explained and took a seat on the arm of the couch next to Scott.

"I thought your boyfriend lived back home?" Steve asked and Peter sighed, having totally forgotten that he'd mentioned having a boyfriend before.

"Uh, no? He goes to the public school" He tried to cover up. Thankfully no one really seemed to care that the facts changed, so he was let off the hook.

Loki narrowed his eyes at Peter however, and Peter rolled his eyes at him to try and get him to lighten up, but Peter didn't like the look he'd received.

"Oh sorry, should probably introduce the new kids. Vin and Brad." Scott pointed to the two good looking guys sitting next to him.

"Hey, I'm Pete. Team captain." He introduced himself.

Vin reached over Scott to shake Pete's hand but didn't say anything in response.

"Bradley Cooper, nice to meet you." The other kid said, loud, and boisterous. Peter smiled and shook his hand.

"Isn't there a third one?" Pete asked to no one in particular.

"Yeah. I saw Coulson this morning and he told me he'd be getting here tomorrow." Drax piped up and Peter nodded.

They were watching reruns of grays anatomy, which Peter wasn't really interested in. He got somehow comfortable on the couch arm and pulled his phone out.

> **Sent: Tony 4:52 pm.**
> 
> _New kids actually seem nice!_
> 
> **Received: Tony 4:55 pm.**
> 
> _See what I told you :)_

After a few moments of mindless television, Scott pulled Pete's head down uncomfortably, so he could whisper in his ear.

"I talked to Coulson this morning too and told him what happened. He wants you to go talk to Ms. Romanov tomorrow." He explained and Peter let out a sigh.

"I don't want him to get in trouble." He whispered back, having to awkwardly crane his head so that his mouth was by Scott's ear.

"Well tough luck spiderboy, Erik's a fucking asshole who deserves to get expelled. Even if you don't talk to her, we can all just point at your face and say Erik did it." Scott pointed out.

"Alright, fine." Peter finally agreed.

"Hey also, how was Tony last night? He sounded kinda upset on the phone." Scott was still doing the awkward whispering things with him.

"Dude I'm not gonna talk about that right here. We should at least go to my room." Pete said and Scott nodded, hopping up and putting his hand on Peter's shoulder. Immediately after Scott got up both Quill and Paul tried to take the seat.

In Peter's room they could talk at full volume and no one would wonder what they were gossiping about. He took a seat on his bed and Scott in the desk chair.

"To answer your question, he was obviously trying to pretend he wasn't upset but I could tell he was. He was nice though and just put me to bed." Pete explained. Tony was always nice, always sweet. Their earlier conversation, however, had Peter worried about just how selfless Tony is.

"Do you think you're going to stay with him?" Scott moved to a different topic of conversation very quickly.

"Uh, yeah absolutely. I love him." Peter admitted and Scott raised an eyebrow.

"And he's not treating you  _anything_ like Erik?" Scott double checked, spinning himself slightly in the chair.

"No, of course not." Peter emphasized. "He's amazing."

* * *

Pete got up extra early in the morning and got breakfast right as the cafe opened so that he could go for a run. He was feeling better since the other day, but his body was still a little sick from everything, so he figured the best medicine would be fresh air.

He sent out a quick text to Tony as it got closer to first period.

> **Sent: Tony 7:42 pm.**
> 
> _Morning. I love you._

Pete pocketed his phone and jogged back up to his room to change. It was a little chilly out today so he wore his cardigan instead of his regular blazer, but it was black so he figured the school would be fine with it.

Grabbing his backpack Peter thought about what he would say to Ms. Romanov about Erik. He didn't want him to get kicked out, but there didn't really seem to be a way around it. At least Peter could try and stop criminal charges from being pressed. He would go talk to her after school.

> **Received: Tony 7:55 pm.**
> 
> _I love you too Petey._

He got to class just a little early and sat next to Loki who was early as well.

Tony was standing with his back to them, writing on the whiteboard, and Peter was pretty sure that Tony's pants had been designed specifically to kill Peter. They were just tight enough that Pete had to look away so that his body wouldn't do anything of its own accord.

The sleeve of Tony's button down sagged where his hand was up writing equations and he could see the thin bracelet that said 'Peter.'

The first bell rang, signalling five minutes before class started and Tony turned around, giving a small wink to Peter that no one else seemed to notice. Peter blushed a little and smiled to himself.

He was wrapped up in copying the notes from the board that he didn't notice everyone else filtering into the room, the five or so other students.

The last bell rang and Tony took a seat at his desk, pulling attendance up on the computer. "Alright everyone's here and... Oh new kid. How do you say your name?" Tony asked, looking up.

Peter, and everyone else in the room, looked over to the newest addition. The teenager was absolutely ripped, his head clean shaven, he looked positively menacing, and he was the newest addition to the soccer team.

"Thanos."


	17. Out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oof it's been a while. But I feel reinvigorated to finish this bad boy!!! Hope you enjoy xoxo

"Peter, thanks for coming up, why don't you take a seat." Ms. Natasha Romanov motioned to a seat in front of her desk. Couch Coulson was sitting in the other chair and Peter felt apprehension building in his gut as he took a seat.

He hadn't wanted to come, hadn't wanted to get Erik in trouble, but the huge bruise on his face wasn't exactly earning him any points. Scott had wanted to come to the meeting to, but Peter had told him not to, placated him by telling him to run practice if this whole deal ran long.

Pete really wanted to be talking to Tony right about now, just sitting with him and doing really anything other than this.

He didn't speak first, just looked expectantly as Ms. Romanov and waited for her.

"So we got a report that you were assaulted at the dance this weekend? Can you tell me about that." She prodded him and Peter felt like sinking into his seat, but instead he sat up straighter and crossed one leg over the other.

"Yeah, it was a bit of a mess. My ex-boyfriend was mad about something and things got out of hand." Peter hoped to leave it at that, but was fairly sure that wasn't a possibility.

"Erik Romanda?" She double checked, writing notes on a sheet of paper in front of her.

She was pretty, Peter mused to himself. He thought of the photo in Tony's office of them standing together, the one in Strange's office that seemed to be from the same party. He wondered briefly how they all knew each other, if the photos were recent or not. Though he seemed to remember that Strange looked really young in his photo.

"Yes, yeah, that's him." Pete nodded.

"Peter, I seem to remember you having a similar bruise on your face around the same time that Erik was removed from the team. Does that have anything to do with this?" Coulson interjected and Ms. Romanov scribbled as he spoke, trying to not miss anything. She was a thorough woman, he'd give her that.

Pete froze up for a moment, trying to think of a way he could remedy this situation, to not implicate Erik in this. There was almost no way he could work around it though, who else would he say hit him? There were just so many loose ends- and by the time Peter finally thought to answer it had been almost a minute, and he knew that they knew.

"Yeah, that was him."

"Pete, you know that we have a strict no violence policy. Did you not think to tell anyone?" Ms. Romanov didn't look very impressed, but Peter figured it wasn't because of him.

"I just didn't want him to get in trouble or anything, ruin his chances at college you know?" The look on her face told him that she  _didn't_ know.

"And what? You were just going to let him hit you if it meant he would graduate?" She accused and Peter wondered if this had struck a nerve with her, if perhaps she had found herself in a similar circumstance.

"He's only hit me twice. I ended things after the first time." He remedied, trying to explain that he had handled it himself.

"Well, I think you understand that he is facing expulsion because of this. I even have half a mind to contact the police." She leaned back in her chair and crossed her legs, he could just see the toe of her pointed heel poking out from behind the dress.

"Please don't contact the police. He's already being kicked out, that's all that needs to happen."

Ms. Romanov narrowed her eyes at him and tapped her red pen a few times, the ink complimented her hair well.

"Did you tell anyone about the first time?" She questioned, probably wanted to know if there was someone who could corroborate his story, it would make it easier for her to expel Erik if there were two instances, and one of them happened on school grounds.

"The soccer team, they know. And Mr. Stark, I told him about it." Peter immediately thought that was the wrong thing to say because she looked even more annoyed when he mentioned Mr. Stark.

"And he didn't think to tell me." She muttered, mostly to herself and wrote it down on a piece of paper as well.

"I told him not to tell anyone! I just, he asked me about the bruise and wouldn't take no for an answer, so please don't get him in trouble or anything."

She narrowed her eyes at him again and Peter felt himself shrinking back into the chair. She was certainly the most intimidating person Peter had ever met, and he had a feeling she wasn't trying to seem that way.

"Is there anything else,  _unsavory,_ you can tell me about Erik's time here?" She was certainly trying to launch a case against him. Peter figured it was up to the board whether or not he would really be expelled, and from the look in Ms. Romanov's eyes, she certainly wanted him to be.

"Just those two things." He added quickly, maybe a little too quick.

"You know, at the beginning of the year, Tony told me that you had a couple missing assignments, said that you'd been stressed. Did that have anything to do with Erik?" Coulson interjected and Peter was on one hand glad that the man seemed to care about him and remember specific things so well, he was on the other hand, mad that  _this_ was the time Coulson decided to show that.

"He made me do a few homework assignments for him. Not a lot, maybe three or four." Peter came clean, realizing there would be no benefit to lying at this point.

"Thank you for telling us Peter, I'm sorry you were made to feel so unsafe at school. I can only hope the rest of the year goes better for you. This is all we need from you." She said, giving him a very unpracticed smile that Peter could tell was mostly fake. Her fake smile prompted him to give her a real smile in response.

"Yeah, no problem. Uh, thanks Ms. Romanov, coach." He said and then made it out of that room as quickly as possible.

* * *

It was their last 'friendly' game of the season and Peter decided to spice things up by alternating in the new players. Vin and Bradley had played for the first half of the game and they were doing pretty well. The score was 2-1, which was obviously subject to change by the end, but Peter felt good about it.

Loki wasn't very happy about being benched, but as far as Peter was concerned-Loki could stay unhappy.

Scott didn't really seem to mind much since Peter had reassured him that he would be in for at least half the game. Vin and Brad were capable players though, at least he hoped that this match wasn't just a fluke and they were actually as good as they seemed.

It was the halfway point so Peter subbed T'Challa out for Thanos. He hoped that this wouldn't wreck the game. T'Challa was their best player, and while it seemed like Thanos could handle himself... Peter just hated losing.

Pete had gotten a weird vibe from Thanos from the week he'd been on the team. He was smart in class, and fairly brutal on the field. He never complained about practice drills or really anything, which would normally be a good thing. It just didn't really seem like Thanos had a personality. He sat with the team during breakfast and lunch and they always tried to include him in discussion. Vin and Brad were already like old friends with everyone else, but Thanos was just creeping on the edges of everyones periphery, which was impressive for a man of his size.

Suddenly Peter was drawn out of his thought as he realized the ball was being passed to him. He dribbled it between his feet down the court, steering clear of the opposing team.

Scott was on his left flank, shadowing him, Paul was just up ahead so Peter felt confident that he could make it to the goal.

And then, just as quickly as he had the ball, he didn't have it and Thanos was kicking with blunt force, scoring the goal.

Peter stood dumbfounded for a moment, looking around like an idiot and trying to figure out how the hell Thanos had gotten the ball away from him. He and Paul made confused eye contact and Scott was just staring after Thanos with a furrowed brow, trying to comprehend what had just happened. It seemed as if the rest of the team hadn't really noticed, thought that Thanos had just naturally scored a goal.

But that was  _Peter's_ goal, and it wasn't like Pete was super upset that Thanos had just scored a goal. But that was  _his_ goal. It was like writing the last sentence of someone else's novel and then publishing it as your own.

In ten more seconds Peter would have made the same move that Thanos had made.

Peter couldn't stand around forever though, as the game was starting up around him once more. It wasn't like he was worried about the score any more, they were 3-1 with less than half the game left, there was no chance they would lose.

Peter felt like he was on another plane of existence though as the game progressed around him. He was more of a bystander than a real participant, because he just couldn't get over how fucking confused he was about that goal.

He was two feet from scoring it, he'd kicked the ball out in front of him as the beginning of a dribble, and then what? Thanos had moved in faster than his eye could see and stole the ball?

What was even the point? The other team had been lagging miles behind him, there was no risk of losing the ball  _or_ the goal.

Peter realized, very suddenly, that he was  _mad._ And he didn't get mad very often. Sure he could be upset at people, snarky even. But truly angry? It didn't happen very often.

So the end of the game couldn't come fast enough for Peter, and after what felt like hours he was walking off the field with Scott following close behind.

"Yo Pete!" Scott yelled and jogged to catch up with him as he stalked off.

Peter looked over at him but didn't say anything.

"You okay man?"

"I'm fine, just a little pissed is all." He shrugged his shoulders, trying to play off his real emotions as they entered the locker room, well ahead of everyone else. Pete wondered what he would say to his team mates, only Scott and Paul seemed to have noticed what happened.

"About that thing Thanos did!" Scott exclaimed even as Peter grabbed his bag and made to head up to his on 'personal' bathroom in the dorms. He hated showering in there.

"Yeah, what even was that?" Peter fumed and slung his bag over his back, running a hand through his sweat soaked hair.

"I think he just aggressively tackled the ball away from you, but honestly I didn't see it very clearly. Still a dick move though." Scott explained, which was exactly what Peter had come up with.

"Yeah it was. I'm gonna head up, see you later Scott."

And then Peter was heading towards the dorms in the brisk evening air, shivering slightly and hurrying his pace.

* * *

**Received: Tony 9:55 pm.**

> Hey princess! I was gonna throw rocks at your window but that seems cliche. Anyway, I'm outside your dorm.

Peter was half asleep when he received this from Tony, and also halfway through a cigarette that he was halfheartedly puffing through the window, even though that would do virtually nothing in the event a teacher came into his room.

**Sent: Tony 9:57 pm.**

> It's like ten at night!

**Received: Tony 10:00 pm.**

> It's a Saturday!

**Sent: Tony 10:01 pm.**

> I'm tired!

**Received: Tony 10:03 pm.**

> :(

**Sent: Tony 10:04 pm.**

> Ooook. I'm coming.

And so Peter simply flicked the cigarette out the window before grabbing another one and tucking it into the pocket of his sweatshirt. He was wearing his pajama pants and an MIT sweat shirt that seemed like it was probably Tony's, so he looked pretty ridiculous.

"Yo TC, I'm going out for a second." Peter told his roommate that was currently invested in some new sitcom.

"No worries, catch you later."

Peter slipped out of the door and padded down the hallway in his tennis shoes. Technically since it was a weekend, students were allowed to go out, however, this late at night it was quiet hours so generally students didn't leave or enter at this time.

As he walked past the common room he saw Steve asleep on the arm chair, Scott passed out on the floor with a scrabble board on top of him, and Paul litered in scrabble letters. They all seemed to be asleep, but still Peter walked very quietly next to them and to the exit.

He pulled the cigarette out of his pocket as he neared the exit and had his lighter ready. As soon as he was outside he lit the cigarette and took a long drag. He didn't smoke often of course, but it was nice on a day like today when he was just stressed beyond belief.

"Well don't you look like a mess." Tony commented with as easy smile on his face as he greeted Peter. Tony was a stark contrast to him, as he was wearing a full suit, a pair of sunglasses pushed back on his head even though it was after ten.

"I'm tired." Peter complained again and took another drag on his cigarette.

"Tough luck, we have to talk. I'll get you a cup of coffee at  _Denny's_." He promised and Peter groaned.

"T _ony!_ I'm wearing my pajamas, I can't go out." He protested even as he sullenly followed Tony towards the parking lot.

"And I'm in a suit. Come on I guarantee we won't be the weirdest ones in there." Tony reassured and Peter let out a long and dramatic sigh.

Tony had his truck on campus, the lifted one that Peter had to basically climb into. "Do you want me to put this out?" He asked, referring to the still smoldering cigarette in between his fingers.

"Well obviously I don't want you to smoke, but no I don't care if it's in my car."

Peter didn't respond, simply curled himself up in the overlarge seat and cracked the window a little bit, he even considered taking a nap on their drive, but Tony decided to play some rock music just loud enough to be annoying.

Pete finished his cigarette and put the butt in what seemed to be an empty can of soda in the cup holder. "So what did you have to talk to me about?" He mumbled, eyes barely open.

"I'll tell you when you're more awake and eating breakfast foods. Good game today, by the way." Tony reached his hand over and rested it on Peter's ankle that was poking out from where his legs were folded up.

"Ah thanks, pissed about that goal I lost though." He sighed. Not that he was still  _angry_ about it, he was more just passive agressive. Though he hadn't mentioned it to anyone else, he doubted anyone else had seen it.

"Did you miss a goal?" Tony enquired and Peter began to question if that whole ordeal even happened, but he soon reassured himself that he wasn't going crazy and it definitely had happened.

"That new guy Thanos stole one from me." Peter rolled his eyes as he said it and Tony rubbed his thumb lightly against Peter's bony ankle, soothing him slightly.

"Didn't know you could steal a goal." Was all Tony responded with, and it was typical. For as many games as Tony had seen recently, the man clearly didn't understand anything about soccer. He just knew that scoring a goal was good.

"He just-ah it doesn't matter. We still won." Pete tried to drop the subject, even though in his mind he was still running through it. He moved onto something else though, some other train of thought that he'd been meaning to pursue. "Hey, have you known Dr. Strange and Ms. Romanov for a while?"

Tony looked over at him questioningly for a moment before turning smoothly onto a side street where Peter could see the blindingly bright glow of the  _Denny's_ sign. "Uh, Strange I met when I got my surgery and Ms. Romanov? Just met her slightly after the accident." He answered and it was Peter's turn to stare at him for a moment.

That was a lie, a boldfaced lie and Peter knew it. First of all, Tony had mentioned that he and Natasha were good friend, that she had given him this job as a helping hand, that didn't really make sense if they just met recently. And secondly, Dr. Strange was  _young_ in that photo that he'd seen, it wasn't just taken a year or two ago.. Peter didn't persue it for the moment though, that obviously wasn't what they'd come here to talk about.

Peter felt self-conscious in his weird outfit for a moment, but then realized Tony had been right, they were far from the weirdest people there at 10:30.

A young woman sat them both, her eyes lingering on Tony for just a little too long before handing them both menus. "We'll take coffees." Tony told her plainly before she had a chance to walk away.

Peter had woken up a little at least and was alert enough to gently peruse the menu, though he wasn't incredibly hungry since he'd gotten dinner with the team.

"So what's the news?" Peter looked up at Tony and the man reached his hand across the table for Peter to take.

Peter looked around the room for a quick moment, just to make sure no one they knew would sneak up on them. It was unlike Tony to take a risk like this in such a public area. Finally Peter tentatively enlaced his hand with Tony's and felt a cold chill run through him. Whatever this was, it wasn't good.

"What's wrong Tony?" Peter repeated and Tony sighed slightly, trying to gather up his courage to speak.

Before he had the chance to, the waitress reappeared with cups of coffee. Peter withdrew his hand so that he could hold the cup with both of his and try to warm himself.

She took their orders next and Peter felt like it was ages before she finally walked away, he'd been on the edge of his seat and sipping coffee the whole time.

"I'm moving." Tony finally said as she walked away, not looking at Peter, looking into his coffee instead. Peter wondered where his confident Tony Stark had gone as the man refused to make eye contact with Peter. Pete really could have used one of Tony's reassuring looks at that moment too.

"Moving? You're not teaching anymore?" Peter tried to get more information out of the man even as Tony seemed to shrink up.

Tony loosened his tie and unbuttoned the top button of his suit nervously before adding cream to his coffee, very out of character for the man.

There was a long silence as Tony drank his coffee, Peter was starting to grow impatient.

"No, I'm not. I'm going to New York."

" _New York?_ That's-that's quite a ways." Peter stumbled over his words and quickly silenced himself by taking another sip of his drink.

There was another long silence as neither of them said anything, the metaphorical gears turning in Peter's head as he tried to wrap his head around everything. Tony still looked so small and sad, but Peter felt the same way.

"It is."

The waitress brought them their food but Peter wasn't incredibly interested in eating anymore, so he let the small plate of eggs and sausage grow cold in front of him.

"Why?" Peter reasonably knew why. Tony was leaving after the school year anyway, it had only been a matter of time.

"Things are moving faster than I thought they would for Stark Industries. We have an investor from Japan who wants me to get everything off the ground as soon as possible. I have no choice." Tony was trying to busy himself by mindlessly eating and it was annoying Peter. He wanted to be alone with Tony, not in a place where he couldn't get emotional.

"No choice." Peter echoed and gripped his coffee tighter.

"You can still come visit me over Spring Break. I'll take time off, give you a tour of MIT." Tony promised.

In his head, Peter was vitriol, he didn't want to go see MIT, he didn't want to spend time with Tony, he wanted to cry and wallow in the fact that his fairy tale romance was coming to an abrupt end.

"When do you leave?" Peter finally asked and Tony seemed to physically cringe.

"Well I thought you would come spend the night with me at the house-"

Peter cut Tony off.

"Tomorrow? You leave tomorrow?" He asked, defeated.

"Eight A.M."

"You didn't think to tell me before this?"

"You were having such a good week, I didn't want to ruin it."

" _Week?_ You've known a whole week?"

"I was scared."

"Scared of what? That I'd be mad your were leaving?"

"Yes."

"I'm mad, pissed in fact, but just because you're telling me nine hours before you have to leave."

"So you're not mat that I'm leaving?"

Something about Tony's expression just made Peter's heart hurt and he shook his head slowly. "No Tony, I'm sad of course. But I'm not mad."

"Do you want to go back to my place?" Tony set his fork down and Peter finished off the last of his coffee before nodding. Tony left a hundred dollar bill on the table.

The drive back to Tony's house was quiet and more somber than their talk in the  _Denny's._ Tony had his hand resting on Peter's leg, but it felt cold and empty to Peter. It was reassuring at all.

The house was dark and mechanical, Tony turned the lights on manually but neither of them wasted time before going to the bedroom. Peter wished that he had the energy to have sex with Tony one last time, but they both barely managed a kiss before they fell exhausted into bed together. Tony was still in his suit.

* * *

"Hey Petey." He was roused gently from his sleep by Tony.

Peter tried to sit up but Tony pushed him back down. "Shh, it's still early, you can stay in bed. I'm going." He explained and that was all the more reason for Peter to try and twist himself out of the blankets.

Tony was dressed casually and had one suitcase in his hand and another carry on. "I don't want you to go." Peter whispered.

"I know baby, I know." Tony brushed a hand through Peter's hair and then pointed to a key on the side table. "This is a key to the house, it'll lock up behind you so you just need it to get in. The keys to all the cars are in the lock box in the garage, I wrote the code on this napkin. Feel free to spend as much time here as you want."

"I don't want to be here without you Tony." Peter whined petulantly and Tony took a seat on the side of the bed, wrapping his arms around Peter's small shoulders, pulling him in close.

"Just a month and a half and then you can spend all of break with me." Tony whispered and pressed a kiss against Peter's forehead.

"I love you." Peter mumbled and then ran his thumb over one of Tony's rough cheek bones. He brought their lips together for a quick and chapped kiss.

"I love you too kiddo, don't worry, I can't stay away from you for long." He reassured and stood up.

Tony grabbed his bags and headed to the door, but set them down one more time.

He turned around to face Peter, and had to give him one last long kiss before finally he could make his way out of the house.


	18. Spring Break

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey so I originally posted this chapter on the 22nd, but I think something went wrong? It's happened before where people aren't alerted to my most recent updated. I just didn't get any reviews for the chapter, which I usually get at least one within a couple of days, so I just had the feeling that people weren't seeing the chapter. Thanks :)

" _Qigons?_ What does that even mean?" Quill asked, looking very upset and confused.

"No idea." Paul shrugged as Peter added the points up.

"What?! You can't just not know! Is it even a word?" Quill was very frustrated. He was still in last place for the game, but he had been hoping to not lose by  _that_ much of a margin.

"Scrabble dictionary dude." Paul grinned.

Steve groaned, "ugh, you're one of  _those_ players." He rolled his eyes and tried to find where he would play his next word.

"Are you challenging the word Quill?" Peter questioned but Quill quickly shook his head, Paul was certainly the most verbose of their group.

"Okay, with that 96 point word, Paul you are now at three hundred points." Peter scribbled it down.

"Who's in second place?" Paul asked, rather hopefully.

"Me." Peter shrugged and Paul swore but continued to play his word.

"Can you guys shut up? Leslie's about to beat Paul Rudd." Scott said from his spot on the couch, motioning to the television that was playing some episode of  _Parks and Recreation._ Peter wasn't a huge TV fan, but he'd seen most sitcoms since he was best friends with Scott.

"How about you shut up!" Quill retorted vehemently. He and Steve were on a team together, but obviously they had no chance at even being second place.

Peter felt his phone vibrate in his pocket and pulled it out.

**Received: Tony 1:23 pm.**

 

> _Head to the airport soon!_

**Sent: Tony 1:24 pm.**

 

> _omw :)_

"Peter's cheating!" Quill exclaimed and Pete just rolled his eyes.

"Hey Paul, you ready to go?" He asked.

It was just dumb luck that Paul's family was from New York so they were able to fly out together for spring break. Peter had never been on a plane before so was pretty freaked out about it, but Paul was seasoned.

Tony had bought him a first class ticket, which Peter had hated, and Paul bought his ticket after Pete so he was able to get a seat next to him.

"Yeah totally! Anyone wanna sub in for Pete and I?" He asked, standing up and grabbing his one bag, slinging it over his shoulder. Pete had his next to him as well and grabbed it.

No one looked keen on trying to follow his and Paul's legacy though.

"See you guys next week!" Brad called and Vin nodded silently along with him.

"Yeah, bye guys!" Scott called next and Peter flashed him a huge grin.

Spring break was going to be pretty great.

* * *

"What do you think of Thanos?" Peter asked as he slowly drank a sprite on the plane. He didn't usually have soda, so the carbonation was a little harsh on his throat but it was a nice treat.

"He's... Weird. Gives me a strange vibe." Paul answered, setting his book down for a second to answer Peter. They were the only two in the lavish aisle so they spoke freely.

"Do you remember what he did in the first game?" Peter certainly hadn't forgot what Thanos had done, stealing the ball from him and everything. Since then they hadn't lost a game, but it seemed like Thanos scored  _every_ goal. Sure Peter and TC scored a few but... It was weird.

"Yeah, that was just Scott and I that even saw that. It's like, every time there's an opportunity to score a goal... He's there." Paul mused and Peter nodded enthusiastically.

"His footwork isn't even good! I don't understand how he keeps scoring." Peter looked to Paul, almost beseeching him for an answer. He hadn't talked with him and Scott about what had happened in the first game, but they each knew that the others  _knew._

"It's like someone taught him only how to score goals. He's great at getting around a goalie, but just like Drax you know, I doubt he could dribble a ball down the field." Paul retorted. Peter totally understood what he meant, Drax was a great defender but he passed the ball quickly. Thanos passed the ball just as quickly, but it was more often than not into the goal.

"I just don't know how to do anything about it. I mean  _we're winning!_ But I don't like it, I think we would be winning anyway, he's just stealing goals from everyone." Peter was at a loss for what to do. He hadn't brought it up to Coulson at all, worried that the man would think he was just upset that someone else was scoring goals.

"Why don't you try putting him in another position? You and Sam play wing back right? You guys do the most running with the ball. Technically, we should all be able to play any position pretty well, so why don't you try subbing him for one of you guys? See how he plays when it's almost impossible to score a goal-well unless he's  _you._ However, I don't think he's anywhere near as good as you or TC are." Paul rationalized and Peter took another sip of his Sprite, thinking for a moment.

"Yeah, I guess if I subbed him out for myself I'd be able to sit on the bench and watch him. Sam's never scored a goal as a wing back, so I'd like to see Thanos try. It might be good to just get him away from the action." Peter nodded, he couldn't exactly watch Thanos play when they were in the middle of a game, but with Pete on the side-it would be a perfect view.

"Bring it up to Scott too, I think he's creeped by Thanos as well."

"Will do. And you don't think I'm being irrational? I mean of course I'm upset that I'm not getting as many goals, but I just don't think that Thanos is making goals that TC or I  _wouldn't_ make. You know?" Peter asked, wanted to make sure that he wasn't just being crazy.

"No, no totally. We're averaging two points a game with him instead of TC, which is what we usually get with sometimes  _just you_ making goals. Obviously with Thanos in, nothing special is happening goal wise. Loki's just mad on the goal, that's why we're winning."

Peter had a lot to think about over Spring Break.

* * *

"So where are you going again?" Paul asked as Pete followed him off of the plane.

They were met with about a million people and Peter immediately felt uncomfortable in the throng.

"I got an internship with this new tech company, pretty cool." That was the lie that he and Tony had come up with.

"Yo my mom sent our driver to pick me up if you want a ride?" Paul offered, Peter was constantly surprised with just how rich some people could be. He was pretty sure Scott's family had a driver too, it baffled him.

"Thanks but they told me they would send me someone to pick me up." Peter shrugged.

They got to the baggage claim of the airport, though neither of them had suitcases. Paul immediately picked out his family driver and said his goodbyes to Peter.

Pete looked around the area for a moment, feeling a little anxious, and like everyone was looking at him.

He caught sight of a sign that read  _PETER PARKER,_ being held by a large man in a suit.

"Uh, hi, I'm Peter." He greeted the man who immediately set the sign down.

"Happy Hogan, Mr. Stark sent me to pick you up." He answered.

Peter held out his hand to shake, but Happy didn't take it, simply grabbed Peter's bag and told him to keep up.

Happy started a phone call almost as soon as they left the airport and Peter had to walk briskly to keep up with him. He certainly wasn't making Pete any less anxious.

He just wanted to see Tony. It had been a month and a half since they'd seen each other and even their twice weekly phone calls were just barely keeping Peter satiated. He  _needed_ to see Tony. They only had from this Saturday until next Saturday as Peter had told May about the 'internship' and she'd agreed to let him stay for all of spring break.

"We're on our way Mr. Stark." Happy said into the phone and Peter felt his roil in anticipation of seeing Tony.

They got into the car and Happy switched the phone off as they began to drive.

"So what's your job for Mr. Stark?" Peter asked, keeping it at 'Mr. Stark' as he wasn't sure who all knew about him and Tony. Maybe to the rest of the company it would just seem like it  _was_ an internship.

"Anything he needs." Happy kept his responses clipped and Peter could tell he didn't really want to converse, but Pete was curious and bored, so he would keep asking him questions.

"So like his assistant?" Peter clarified.

"Driver, bodyguard, Pepper handles the business side." He answered and Peter decided to leave it at that, not wanting to annoy the man.

Peter stared eagerly out the window as they drove through the city. He'd grown up pretty close to Washington DC, but New York was a whole new experience. There were a hundred times the amount of people in this city.

As they drove deeper into the city Peter could see the expensive high rise buildings dotting the streets, and the buildings only seemed to get bigger. Peter wondered which one of these could possibly be Tony's new building.

They finally pulled around to the back of one, absolutely littered with construction workers.

"This is it, I'll grab your bag and take you up to your room. Don't wander, there's major construction going on right now." Happy explained.

Peter followed close behind them as they left the barren garage and entered the building. The hall they walked through was tight and claustrophobic, and the elevator looked like it was directly from the sixties.

"What kind of work if he having done?" Peter asked as Happy pressed the button for floor 82. There were 85 floors in all. It was the tallest building Peter had ever been in.

"He's updating it, it hasn't been worked on since the 70s and was about to be foreclosed upon. The top ten floors are finished, but they're living quarters so don't go exploring. Mr. Stark's floor is the top one, no one goes in unless invited." He warned and Peter quirked his lips to the side slightly. He hoped that he would be able to see Tony soon.

The elevator brought them up finally and Peter was met with a large apartment style complex. There was a kitchen and a living room with a flatscreen television.

"This is just a communal space. Your room is through here." Peter continued to follow Happy.

"Does that mean other people are living on this floor?" Peter asked, wondering if he would have to share a space with other people, he kind of hoped not. He also kind of wished that he could just stay with Tony.

"There's only three rooms and only one other is occupied." Happy handed Peter a key to his room, stopping in front of a large door at the end of a hall.

Pete could barely imagine how big the rooms must be if there were only three bedrooms on the whole floor.

Happy was about to walk away after Pete took the key and his bag was dropped. "Wait, Mr. Hogan! Uh, when will I see Mr. Stark?" Peter asked. He knew that he could just text the man, but he really wanted to know.

"He's away on business right now. He probably won't have time for you until tomorrow. Until then just... Don't destroy anything." And then he was walking away and Peter let himself into the room.

It was certainly grand, but it was very minimalist and not very homey at all. He could kind of understand how Tony would prefer his and May's tiny apartment to a place like this. He set his bag down on the floor and all of a sudden felt very alone in the room.

He took a seat on the bed and sat uncomfortably straight, almost like he couldn't relax.

He pulled his phone out and called Tony, laying back on the bed, the toes of his shoes just barely touching the floor.

"Hey Peter!" Tony greeted as soon as the phone stopped ringing.

"Hey Tony. I'm in your building." He said quietly, and stretched his free hand above his head, wiggling his fingers absently.

"I'm so excited to see you, listen I have to go, but I should be back tomorrow, I'll see you then kiddo." And then Tony hung up and Peter let out a long sigh.

 _Tomorrow?_ Couldn't Tony have just... Not scheduled anything for tonight?

It was around four in the afternoon now and Peter just had no idea what to do to pass the time.

He was worried about running into the other person that was on the floor, but eventually he grew incredibly bored of just staring at his phone so he wandered out into the kitchen.

The fridge was fully stocked with food and Pete found a few things that he could use to make a sandwich. He assumed that Tony had probably filled it, since he doubted that anyone would need that much food.

When he was about halfway through eating and sitting on the kitchen counter he heard someones footsteps coming towards the kitchen.

He looked up mid bite to see someone that he, surprisingly, recognized.

"Wabda?" He asked through a mouthful of food.

"Oh hello," she obviously didn't remember what his name was.

Peter finished chewing quickly. "Peter," he filled in for her and she nodded with a small smile.

"You're Paul's girlfriend right?" He jumped down from the counter and put his plate in the sink.

"Yeah, I just moved to New York." She answered and leaned against one of the counters. She was very beautiful and Peter was once again struck with wondering just how Paul had landed such a girl.

"Are you working for Mr. Stark?" She moved towards the fridge as Peter spoke and pulled a slice of pizza out of a box, not bothering to warm it up before eating it.

"Yes, I'm getting my degree in astrophysics and Stark was looking for live in employees."

"I know Paul's in New York, are you guys going to be spending time with each other?" Peter felt kind of odd that he was the only one asking questions, but she seemed content on just answering everything he asked.

"I think he's going to be spending some time in the tower with me actually." She explained and then before Peter could say anything else, she drifted back into her room.

Peter felt tense after she said that. It would be weird to have them around, would totally raise the stakes that he and Tony might be caught.

 _Oh well,_ they would just have to try and sneak around, nothing they weren't used to.

* * *

Peter was woken up at almost four in the morning by the sound of someone opening the door to his room. Peter immediately tensed up and sat, trying to reach for the light by the bed.

"Relax Petey, just me." He heard Tony whisper and Peter let out a deep sigh.

"I thought you were coming back later." Peter said in a quiet, sleepy voice, pushing the covers back and waiting for Tony to come join him.

Tony sat on the edge of the bed and pushed Peter's hair back gently. "I wanted to come back early and see you. Are you sick baby? You're kind of hot." Tony rand a thumb over one of Peter's cheeks gently.

Peter shook his head. He felt kind of hot, but not exactly sick. "Come sleep with me." Peter beckoned him into the bed.

"How about we go up to my room?" Tony offered and Peter groaned, snuggling deeper into his bed.

"No I'm too tired." He complained.

"Come here." Tony reached for Peter and Peter let himself be pulled into Tony's arms. Tony picked him up like a giant child. Peter wrapped his legs around Tony's waist and Tony held him from under the ass, tightly, supporting all of his waist as Peter was barely holding on.

"Why couldn't I just stay in your room?" Peter mumbled, barely a whisper, Tony could only hear him since his mouth was so close to Tony's ear.

"I just can't let anyone know about us." Tony responded and slipped them out of Peter's room, struggling just a bit to hold the teen with one arm when he had to open the elevator.

"That's so sad." Peter whispered back but he could feel his eyes fluttering as Tony leaned against the wall of the elevator and tried to let Peter just lean against him. He had a lot of muscle, so he wasn't as light as he looked.

When the button dinged they were at the top floor and hoisted Peter up again, reassuring his grip.

"You're so fucking heavy." Tony complained.

"You're heavier." Peter mumbled and suddenly the lights were flicked on and Peter was temporarily blinded.

"Really Tony, you've already found a hook up? What is he, drunk?" A domineering female voice ask and Peter momentarily felt Tony's grip on his falter.

Peter was roused from his sleepy state by what was developing around him and he easily broke out of Tony's grip, standing on the floor by himself and squinting in the light at the woman in Tony's kitchen.

"Pepper? Why are you here?" Tony asked, he thought briefly about turning Peter around and hiding his face, but it was too late for that, Pepper already saw him.

"You told me to meet you back here for a debrief." She said, obviously exasperated with him.

"Oh shit I did." Tony looked momentarily lost in thought.

"Tony who  _is_ this? Is he even legal?" She asked, looking like she couldn't believe what she was seeing.

"Yes, yes of course. He's my boyfriend. I told you I had one." He explained quickly and Peter felt extremely uncomfortable. So this was the personal assistant that Tony had told him about. Well fuck, this changed things.

"Really Tony? What's the public going to think about you dating someone so young?" Pepper asked, gathering up her things from the kitchen counter, trying to get through with this situation.

"We're no  _going public_ until next year. After he...graduates." He said quietly, tapering off at the end.

"Oh my  _God!_ Is he seventeen?" She asked, rubbing her face with a hand and pressing her lips together.

"Yeah." Peter answered for himself, voice small and unsure.

"Listen Pep, he's going to MIT next year it's not like I'm a fucking sugar daddy. And come on, I'm certainly not the first rich guy to date an eighteen year old." Tony reasoned.

"Yeah but he's  _not_ eighteen." She protested.

"And no one will know that our relationship started before he is." He retorted, Pepper looked like she was about ready to pull her hair out.

"When's your birthday kid?" She asked.

"November."

" _November?_ Of course it's November." She sounded almost completely insane saying that. "Jesus Tony, you have to go nine more months without fucking anything up." She sighed.

"He's in school for the rest of the year, three months, and then he's starting his first semester at MIT." Tony tried to reason.

"That's three months of summer where you guys have to try to not get caught!" She was stalking off towards the elevator now, wanting to be done with this.

"So we'll keep away from each other." Tony shrugged.

" _Keep away from each other?_ This is the first school break Peter's had and you've already flown him here!" She argued with him and Peter certainly couldn't rebuke her. They couldn't stay away from each other for very long.

"Fine, we'll be more careful. I'm sorry Pep, just go to bed. This will be my problem if it comes out." He sighed and Pepper happily walked away, getting in the elevator.

Tony didn't speak, just pulled Peter along with him to the bedroom before falling onto the bed and dramatically pulling Peter along on top of himself.

"What are we gonna do?" Peter mumbled.

"Make out." Tony suggested and Peter groaned against him, obviously that wasn't the answer he wanted.

"For real Tony."

"It's four thirty in the morning, I don't want to deal with this right now." Tony flipped them over and pressed his lips against Peter's throat, leisurely.

"Do you wanna have sex?" Peter asked as he passively let Tony kiss him.

"It's four thirty in the morning." Tony echoed and Peter sighed again.

"Do you wanna give me a blow job?" Peter asked, too tired to actually do much of anything.

Tony let out a soft, raspy laugh and sat up on Peter's thighs. "Yeah, sure."

Peter wasn't even hard so when Tony pulled down his pajama pants and pulled him into his mouth, it was easy to fit all of it in there.

Soon Peter was getting more into it and he could feel his length hardening as Tony had to pull his mouth off a little so that he wouldn't choke. Tony started an easy rhythm of sliding off and on of Peter's cock. Peter bucked his hips shallowly into Tony's mouth and let out a litany of vowel sounds.

"Fuck," Peter whispered and reached out a hand to thread into Tony's hair limply. His eyes rolled into the back of his head and as soon as it started, he was cumming down Tony's throat, the man eagerly swallowing everything he had to give.

Tony reached into the drawer in his bedside table and pulled out a bottle of lube. He used one small dollop to slick his cock and then he pressed Peter's thighs together tightly.

"W-what?" Peter barely spoke before Tony pressed his hard cock through the tight crevice that Peter's thighs made, the feeling of Peter's soft thighs was about a thousand times better than his hand could ever be.

"Oh..." Peter moaned. One of Tony's hand gripped Peter's ankles tightly, holding his legs up and Peter flexed his thighs so they were tight. Tony's other hand gripped his hip tightly, and for some reason the sight of Tony's cock coming through his thighs with each pivot of his hips was just about the hottest thing he'd ever seen.

"Fuck Pete." Tony breathed and the speed of his hips increased until Tony was spilling himself all over Peter's shirt, shallowly thrusting his softening cock a few more times as he rode out his orgasm.

Tony helped Peter out of his dirty shirt and grabbed a wet rag to wipe them down before falling onto the bed and pulling Peter close again him, never wanting to leave his love again.

"Can we have sex soon?" Peter asked, pressing his lips gently against the skin of Tony's neck, giving him small kisses.

"If you really want to. I feel better about doing it in New York." Tony responded.

Peter realized that they hadn't kissed each other once, the entire time they'd been doing things, so he shimmied himself up closer to Tony's face and swung a leg inbetween Tony's.

"I missed you so much." Peter whispered, his breath ghosting over Tony's lips, before he pressed them together.

Tony worked a hand into Peter's hair and held them close together for a moment until they were too tired to kiss for any longer.

"Love you Petey. I don't wanna be away from you again." Tony responded and for a moment Peter thought Tony was going to start crying, but he didn't, he just held Peter close until they both fell asleep.


	19. Laughing With

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let's just continue to have a willing suspension of disbelief over how much fucking money Tony has bc if we're being honest it's increased like exponentially since the beginning of this fic :/

"And with Mr. Stark's recommendation, we can offer a substantial financial aid package." The sweet woman, Marta, said, looking over her shoulder and flashing Peter a smile as they continued on their tour of the school.

"Oh that's awesome! Yeah I'm super interested. I'm still waiting to hear back on my application though." He admitted and she slowed in her step to walk side by side with Peter. She'd been walking slightly ahead of Pete for most of the tour since Tony had been pulled away within the first ten minutes by some professors who wanted him in the engineering department.

"Oh you're in, absolutely. We can go to the admissions office right now and I can get you your letter! It should have been mailed out like last week." She explained with her lips pursed to the side. Peter liked her, she a was junior, witty, and pretty cool in Peter's mind. She was dressed casually and cute, whereas Peter had thought business casual would be the dress code at MIT. Tony had even strolled onto campus in a ratty pair of jeans and a tucked in tee shirt.

Peter was pretty surprised to see what a celebrity Tony was in this world, as soon as they'd gotten on campus, Tony was basically surrounded by professors, students, just about everyone. It made him kind of wish that he could show Tony off, let everyone know that Tony was his. But instead Peter had had to walk next to Happy and behind Tony. The new intern, who no one really cared about.

"Uh yeah, that sounds good." Peter responded. He was excited to get his letter, he would photocopy it and send the original to Aunt May immediately. Peter wondered how much or a difference Dr. Banner and Mr. Stark's letters of recommendation had mattered towards him getting accepted-- or if perhaps he would have gotten in because of his own aptitude. He had a feeling though, that it had been Mr. Stark that really swayed everything.

"You wanna get lunch in the cafe with me too? I have some friends who would love to meet Stark's new protoge." She asked cordially and Peter tensed up a little.

"Uh, I'm not sure," he started for a moment, suddenly apprehensive about having to meet so many new people at once. He was used to his own group, hadn't felt much social anxiety since he joined the soccer team.

"Oh Gosh, I probably came on too strong didn't I? Sorry, we can just meet up with Mr. Stark again if that would be better?" She offered and Peter let out a small sigh.

"Oh no, uh, sorry I just-- I'm bad at, well ah fuck I've dug myself into a hole. I'm just not great around new people." He quickly summed up as they drew closer to the admissions office. She led him inside and he followed close on her heels.

Marta let out a long laugh and casually reached over someone's desk to grab a stack of envelopes before she pulled out Peter's. "It's MIT Peter, no one here is great around people. We'll make a lunch raincheck for the fall. Now follow me to the engineering building, I think that's where we left Mr. Stark."

On the walk back they didn't talk as much except for Marta asking him casual questions and generally getting to know him. Peter thought that Marta was pretty, she had olive skin and deep eyes, she was also incredibly nice, maybe even overly so.

The engineering building was huge and they took an elevator up to the top floor where Marta said most of the professors spent their time. She was an engineering student, and somehow Peter could picture her perfectly that way.

When they got up to the top it looked like Tony was involved in just about the most boring party he'd ever seen. Through the blinds of an office he could see three guys and one woman standing around a white board with tumblers of whiskey, scrawling equation. Peter had to bite back a laugh. He usually saw Tony working directly with his hands, not doing math in a dinky office.

Marta knocked on the door twice before walking in and then Peter's nose was assaulted with the sent of weed rolling out of the office. The windows were open and a fan was blowing but Peter could still smell it and saw the blunt in between two of Tony's fingers as he held an expo marker in the others.

"It's vile in here." Marta fanned her hand in front of her nose dramatically but had a smile hidden behind it.

"Shouldn't you be doing homework Brown?" One of the professors quipped, but it was jovial and good natured, they obviously had a rapport.

"Ah well, smell you later then." She said, causing a laugh. "I'll see you later Peter! You have my number so feel free to text me." She gave him a pat on the shoulder and then was down the hall away from them.

"I suppose I should be taking Peter as well." Tony handed the blunt to one of the other professors and they nodded at Tony.

"Come down more often Stark. And Peter, I guess we'll see you in the fall, expecting big things from you." The woman said and Peter nervously nodded back at her.

Soon enough, Tony shuffled them out of the room and closed the weed scent behind them. Peter was glad that they were out of there and let out yet another sigh.

Tony maintained a considerable distance between them as they walked down the hall, but once they were in the elevator he put an arm around Peter and leaned back against the elevator wall. "God, those people are so draining." He said, letting his eyes flutter closed for a moment.

"Actually, it's probably all the pot." Peter pointed out cheekily.

"Oh shut up, you can't police me Mr.  _perfect._ " Tony joked and leaned in to press his lips against Peter's cheek.

Pete could tell that Tony wasn't actually very high, nor was he drunk, he was just glad to be in Peter's presence alone for a few seconds. Since that first night, they'd had barely any alone time. It had only really been one day wherein Tony'd had nonstop meetings, but this was their only time together for a long while and Peter wanted to cherish every moment.

"I am pretty perfect." Peter joked as Tony bit softly into his neck, pulling away in record time as they elevator dinged and the doors opened to the ground floor of the engineering building.

"You wanna go get something to eat?" Tony asked, standing a respectable distance away from Peter. He longed for the day that he could hold Peter close against him and never let him go.

"Is that a good idea? I mean wouldn't it be weird if we were seen out to dinner with each other?" Peter questioned and felt his phone vibrate in his back pocket, but decided not to check it immediately.

"Naw, we'll bring Pepper with us, it'll look totally business like. Plus the press already thinks Pep and I are screwing so..." Tony trailed off and Peter shot him a look, as if that was supposed to make him feel better.

"Alright then,  _Mr. Stark,_ lead the way." Peter said, flashing Tony a self satisfied smirk as the man looked both uncomfortable and turned on with the usage of that name, though it had been what Peter called him for a long time before they were together.

Peter briefly reminisced over when Tony told Peter to call him by his first name. It was the first time they kissed, on the couch in Aunt May's apartment. He looked at Tony's profile lovingly for a moment and then was ushered in an open car door by the man. Peter scooted to the far end and Tony took a seat next to him.

Peter didn't recognize the driver, it wasn't Happy, apparently Tony had other drivers. It was no matter though as Tony almost immediately put the privacy screen up.

"Have we ever really been on a date before?" Peter mused aloud as Tony rested a hand on his thigh, calloused fingers squeezing Peter's muscular flesh.

"We went to Ihop once." Tony supplied and gently rubbed circled into Peter's leg.

"That doesn't count. That sucked."

"You're right. I'm sorry."

"We spent Christmas together."

"Was that really a date?"

"I guess not."

"Does this mean a lot to you?"

"I don't know," Peter sighed. "Isn't that just what people in relationships do, go out to the movies and shit?" He asked, not like he and Erik had ever really gone out besides studying over coffee or trashy parties.

"Are you saying you want me to take you to the movies?" Tony asked bemused and unbuckled his seat belt to move closer to Peter, sitting thigh to thigh with him and putting an arm around his shoulders.

"No. Just you know, going out and stuff." Peter tried to explain, but even to his ears it didn't really make much sense.

"For a kid going to college next year, you're not very verbose." Tony joked and Peter playfully shoved at him before letting the line of conversation drop and relaxing into Tony's gentle embrace.

They didn't talk for a few moments as Peter listened to Tony's heartbeat and Tony's fingers gently ministrated against his shoulder.

"That girl sure seemed to like you." Tony said and brought his other hand to trace a feather light line down Peter's chest, an absentminded gesture.

"Asked me to go to lunch with her." Peter responded, subtly proud of himself for seemingly catching the attention of someone pretty and older-- though he supposed he'd already done with with Tony. "Don't worry though, I prefer my partners a little more manly."

The car rolled to a stop and Peter didn't even remember Tony telling the driver where to go, but when they exited back into the fleeting evening light, they were in front of an old deceivingly decrepit restaurant with some Asian script on the sign that Peter didn't recognize.

Pepper was standing out front in a smart outfit and talking on the phone, she hung up once she saw Tony though. Peter hadn't seen Pepper since she found out about them, so felt a little uncomfortable in her presence once again, and unresolved tension hung viscous in the air.

"Tony, Peter." She greeted and Tony flashed her a smile before leading them into the restaurant.

It was beautiful inside, gold finishes embellished historic artifacts. It was eclectic but not tacky. This was definitely an expensive place.

The hostess led them to a table that was tucked away in a back corner, none on the other diners would be able to see them so Tony took a seat on the same side of the booth as Peter. The booth was small so they were pressed close against one another, Peter confined by the wall.

"What did you think if MIT Peter?" She asked and Peter had temporarily forgotten that the were all the way in upsate Massachusetts. It had been a three hour drive for him and Tony so he wondered how Pepper had gotten here on such short notice.

"Oh it was wonderful, definitely exceeded my expectations." He answered politely and Tony handed him a menu. It was very small and only had six options on it. Peter could barely comprehend what any of them said.

"That's good." She said simply and then their stilted conversation was thankfully over.

"Can you just order for me Tony? My knowledge of Chinese food stops at the takeout place." Peter admitted, referring to a specific place that they'd frequented over Christmas.

"Yeah sure." Tony responded and when the waitress came to get them drinks and take their orders Tony rambled something off to her, Peter had no clue what it was, but figured Tony would know best.

Before they even got their food Tony was getting a phone call and excused himself to go outside and talk. Peter sipped at his water anxiously and Pepper looked down at her manicure.

There was palpable silence until Tony finally came back with an unsure look on his face. "Hey guys, an investor found out I'm in town and apparently he desperately needs a meeting with me right now. I shouldn't take more than an hour. Sorry guys." Tony rambled off and before either of them could say anything he was off cancelling his order with the hostess and hurrying out the door.

"I guess it's just us then." Peter said rather awkwardly, he felt so childish and stupid in this situation, he half expected his voice to crack.

"Yeah." Pepper trailed off with the single word and pursed her lips to the side.

"So... Is uh, Tony a good boss?" He asked plainly, wishing that it wasn't rude to just whip your phone out in the middle of dinner. Peter honestly thought that Pepper wanted to be on her phone right now as well.

"He's good. He just doesn't really like paperwork or meeting, or, really, anything that has to do with running a company." She explained, looking surprised with herself for divulging so much information.

"Yeah, ha, I suppose he'd rather be working with his hands." Peter somewhat expected what Pepper had said, Tony never really struck him as the type to sit around signing forms and exchanging pleasantries.

"Does he treat you right Peter? I mean, take no offense, I'm still just... Wrapping my head around things." She explained as the food was brought out to their table and Peter stared questioningly at what Tony had ordered him.

He wrapped his head around the question for a moment and took a sip of water before finally responding. "Absolutely. I uh, I initiated things. It wasn't like he came onto me at all. He actually helped me get away from an abusive boyfriend and he takes really good care of me."

Pepper smiled at him, a faint, thin line. Peter tried a bite of his food and immediately wondered why he'd doubted Tony. It was amazing.

"I'm glad." She said.

They made faint small talk until dinner was over and Tony was calling Peter, telling him he would pick him up. It was nice actually, and Peter felt like he had a new understanding and appreciation for Pepper.

* * *

"Let's go to your room." Tony pressed the button on the elevator and then immediately pushed Peter up against the wall.

"Oh,  _fuck,_ yeah okay." Peter breathed out. He and Tony had been in a limo for about three hours, it was nearing midnight. They'd kept mostly to themselves for the better part of the drive but once they'd entered the city limits they couldn't keep their hands off of each other. And they didn't want to either.

They kept it together through the more public spaces of Tony's building but in the elevator again they were reinvigorated.

Both groaned when the door opened and they had to pull away long enough to get to Peter's bedroom.

Tony pushed him back onto the bed and Peter scooted up so all of his body fit on the bed, pulling his tee shirt over his head as he did so.

Tony gripped Peter around his middle, his hands almost able to fully grip his thin body, and pushed him down into the bed and he kissed and bit along Peter's collar bone. Pete bucked his hips up into Tony but wasn't able to move very far with the man holding him down.

Pete was able to grip the collar of Tony's tee shirt and tried to pull it over the mans head. Tony had to remove his grip from Peter and get the shirt the rest of the way off. Peter pulled away from under Tony and coerced the man into laying on his back so Peter could straddle him.

"Hmm, domineering are you Petey?" Tony joked and it made Peter flush red.

"Shut up." He mumbled and silenced Tony with a slick and sloppy kiss. Their mouths were barely even touching as Tony's hands kneaded into Peter's ass, pulling him tightly against Tony's erect cock. They were both trying to get friction against one another, but that wasn't all Peter wanted.

He shimmied down Tony's body and unbuttoned Tony's pants, sliding off the bed to get the mans shoes off so he could pull his pants and boxers all the way off. Peter got himself into a similar state of disrobement and then climbed back up to sit on Tony's thighs.

"Do you want to baby?" Tony asked, carding a hand through Peter's hair and pulling harshly and leisurely as Peter studied his face for a minute.

"Yeah, yeah fuck I do." Peter breathed and Tony pulled away for a second to reach into the bedside table, pulling out a small thing of lube. "Really? You put lube in my room?"

"You are the horniest person I know, it was honestly a safety precaution." Tony said with a mock tone of seriousness.

"Fuck you." Peter laughed as Tony warmed up a spot of lube between his fingers, pushing Peter onto his back again and spreading his legs.

Tony slotted himself between Peter's long legs and pressed and finger against his hole, breaching him slowly. This part Peter was used to, he let out a sigh of pleasure as Tony's knuckle brushed against his hole.

" _More,_ " Peter moaned, though he knew full well that he was going to get more. Tony couldn't stop now, Peter was pretty sure his body would go into shock if Tony just left him hanging.

Tony pulled the first finger almost all the way out and then slotted a second along side it. He brought his mouth down to just below Peter's navel and sucked a deep purple mark into the tender flesh of his stomach. Peter let out a low whine at the feeling and sucked in a breath, his ass grinding down involuntarily against Tony's fingers, causing his eyes to roll back into his head.

Tony barely gave Peter any prep before he slicked up a third finger and pushed them all back in roughly. Peter's eyes were flickering open and closed with the feelings going on inside of him and Tony felt like he couldn't wait any longer as he stared down at the look of rapture on Peter's chiseled features.

"You're beautiful." Tony mumbled, barely audible. The only acknowledgement he got that Peter had even heard it was a rosy blush covering his cheeks.

"I love you." Peter finally mumbled back and Tony pulled his fingers out, confident that Peter was prepped enough.

He got more lube on his hand and ran it up his cock, careful not to stroke too harsh. He wanted to last a long time for Peter. Tony also didn't feel the need for protection. Peter hadn't brought it up and Tony had gotten himself tested recently, and he doubted Peter had been getting any side action, so he was undoubtably clean.

"Are you ready?" Tony whispered into the crook of Peter's neck. Peter nodded back, lifting his legs to allow Tony more room.

Tony lined his cock up with Peter's entrance and simply stared down at his love for a moment, taking in all of Peter's features before slowly pushing in. Tony saw Peter's stomach suck in as he gasped and Tony's hand on his tight tightened, squeezing as Peter held in his breath and Tony continued to push in.

When he bottomed out Peter let out his breath and Tony loosened his grip on Peter's thigh, panting slightly.

It took a moment but then Peter gently rolled his hips down against Tony and Tony took that to mean Peter was ready. He drew out shallowly at first before pushing back in, being gentle for Peter's sake. He knew Peter was used to taking his fingers, but his cock was still bigger.

After a few thrusts Tony felt more confident and pulled almost all the way out before pressing back in.

" _Oh_." Peter groaned and bit his lips harshly.

Tony repeated that movement and Peter made the same pleased noise.

He worked them up after that, moving faster and harder against Peter and not once did Peter even attempt to touch his own cock, just let Tony take care of him.

"Can you cum from just my cock?" Tony asked, his voice husky and low as he leaned over Peter and bit once at his sensitive and hard nipple.

"Mmm, mhmm." Was the only noise Peter could coherently make besides rows of long drawn out noises, most of them vowel sounds, some of them the beginning of Tony's name.

Tony grabbed Peter's hips and pulled him down to meet his thrusts, bouncing Peter the best he could from this angle as he felt his orgasm start to pinnacle.

Peter felt his own start to pool low in his stomach, spreading out like a match until he pressed himself down on Tony's cock forcefully, and came all over his stomach. " _Uh, Tony_." He moaned and his eyes fluttered open and closed.

It took Tony only a few more thrusts before he was emptying himself into Peter with a grunt and panting through the aftershocks.

"I love you too." Tony mumbled.

* * *

It was early in the morning, maybe seven or eight when Peter got up and pulled a pair of pajama bottoms on. Tony had thankfully had the forethought to clean them off last night so he woke up wonderfully not sticky and a little sore. But the sore was good, he relished in it.

Tony was still sleeping as Peter brushed a tentative finger over his face and then made his way to the kitchen for some breakfast.

There was a box of unopened cereal and some milk in the fridge so Peter poured himself a bowl and ate it leisurely while leaning against the counter. He was incredibly hungry after last night, honestly could have two bowls of cereal.

After a few minutes of silence by himself, another pair of footsteps made their way to the kitchen and Tony appeared with his boxers and tee shirt from yesterday on. "Weren't gonna wake me up with breakfast in bed?" Tony asked with a half smile on his face.

"Go back to bed, and starve." Peter quoted, making Tony erupt into laughter that was frankly too loud for the early morning.

Tony came up to stand before Peter, pressing him against the counter. Tony commandeered Peter's spoon and took a bite of his breakfast.

"Hey I really liked last night Tony. That was amazing." Peter made a complete one eighty on subject matter and Tony looked taken aback for a moment.

"I'm glad, because we'll definitely be doing that more before the week is up. Dare I say, before the day is up?" He pressed his lips against Peter's forehead and Peter felt himself almost melt into the touch. 

Peter set his cereal on the counter next to them and grabbed Tony's face between the two of his, running his thumbs along his cheek bones and pulling Tony in a soft, early morning sunrise kiss. 

It was a little too late when Peter heard another set of footsteps coming into the kitchen. 

He pulled away from Tony's mouth and looked over his shoulder, only to them be looking directly at Paul. Of fucking course Paul would be here visiting Wanda.  _So fucking stupid._ Peter thought to himself. 

"Oh, shit, sorry Peter didn't mean to interrupt. Also, I didn't know your boyfriend lived in New York?" Paul obviously didn't think that this was a big deal, running into his team mate making out in a kitchen, and Peter could tell he had no intent to leave.

Peter had no idea why Tony did it, Tony probably couldn't say why either: but Tony turned around and if the situation wasn't so grave, Peter almost could have laughed at the expression on Paul's face. 


End file.
